The Trials of Eros
by Death101- Fox Version
Summary: Redo of Holid#2 After returning from Halloween Town, Trunks, Keiko, and Kaiba struggle to return to normal life, but when their friends go missing on Valentine's Day, it's up to the three to complete the trials and get their friends back! YGO YYH DBGT Rated PG-13 on safe side. PG on slack side.
1. Recap

**WARNING: I do not support Yaoi in any way! So Trunks and Goten's attitude clearly follows that and it may seem harsh. I'm sorry but that's how I write. I will not change that so if you don't like it, please leave. Thank you.**

**Important information: Valentines is different in Japan from here in North America. On Feb 14 people give each other chocolate. On White Day, March 14, you give out gifts to the people who gave you chocolates, if you want. At least that's my understanding. Google for more information.**

_Disclaimer: I am not Akira Toriyama, something Takahashi, or the maker of Yu Yu Hakusho._

**A/N: The BETTER version of the sequel of sorts to Lock, Shock, and Barrel. And this was posted in parts just because all bunch together it was 50+ pages and that just seemed too much to me.**

**Roses are red.  
><strong>**Violets are blue.  
><strong>**I hope you like this story  
><strong>**Made just for you.**

**-Death101 – Fox Version**

The Trials of Eros

**Foreshadowing Unease **

**H**e thought he had recovered from his adventure into the land of the insane and haunted. After all, it had been three months since the creatures in Halloween Town had mistaken him for the little skeleton boy Barrel. The nightmares about the many horrible events he was forced to relive had stopped. The bruises from falling down the stairs and rolling into the town hall had vanished within days. His friends stopped asking for the real reason that he had shown up late to the Halloween Party in a badly torn costume. New Year's Eve and Christmas had passed without a problem. And most of all, he hadn't even thought about the switch up after he destroyed his skeleton costume a day after the nightmares stopped. However, as February 14th approached, Trunks couldn't help but feel some unease.

A large part of him tried to believe that he was only worried because of a meeting scheduled on that day. One day his mom had looked at the sales and noticed that they were not as high as they could be. For a couple of minutes, Trunks had tried to explain that while many people were using capsules, a large amount of people weren't because they were leery of them and that Capsule Corps didn't have the connections to spread them worldwide. After his mother had ignored him and ordered him to bring up the sales he did the only thing he could do. Try to get a partnership with the other company. The only appointment he could get was the 14th at 3 o'clock. While a large part of him was sure that he was worried only because the fate of his company might rest on that meeting, a small part said it wasn't the meeting but the holiday.

It wasn't as if he hadn't survived through Valentines and White Day before. Once he turned 13, it actually became one of his favourite holidays after Halloween because of all the chocolate he would get. The fact that his sister Bra nearly turned the kitchen upside down making chocolate every year since she started going to school didn't worry him. He was used to just shrugging when his mom started asking him who he was taking out that night. This year he wasn't even surprised when his grandmother mistook Goten for a girl and asked if they were dating because his best friend had grown his hair out again. These were perfectly normal occurrences (except for Goten being mistaken as a girl.) And yet Trunks couldn't help but feel worried as he crossed out the days on his calendar.

Somehow, he just knew that February 14 was going to be as bad as his previous Halloween, and if he was going to be honest with himself, he knew that the meeting with a CEO of another company wasn't behind it.

**Foreshadowing Paranoia **

**A**fter his trip to the island of madness, Kaiba had been very careful to avoid any repeats of the adventure or repercussions. To avoid having his adventure become public knowledge he replied to the news story that said he had gone missing by stating that he had in fact been working in the sublevels of his company all along. Not only did this show his company in a better light but it also got rid of a harpy for him. To avoid any more people mistaking him for a small devil costume wearing child named Lock, he ordered to have the costume destroyed. He avoided any nightmares caused by the hellish machine that showed him his worse memories by worked overtime. Probably more than he should have. Finally, he simply avoided thinking about it by focusing on the upcoming meeting with another company whose technology could be of invaluable use. But three months later, Kaiba started looking over his shoulder.

It started as a simple thing. He'd look behind him to watch through the huge window in his office when a bird flew by as he tried to think his way through the many figures he saw daily. A couple of days into February, he started feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stand up and he would turn, expecting to see someone. Sometimes someone would be there and looking for him. More often there wasn't. As February 14th crept closer, he found himself looking over his shoulder more and more. Sometimes because he sensed something. More often he found himself looking over his shoulder just because. Even while he was buried in work, he still found time to look over his shoulder, no longer looking for birds but something else. Something he didn't want to admit he was looking for. Something that carried arrows and was one of the many symbols of love.

He knew he was being an idiot and wouldn't admit that he was looking out for an insane cupid. He reasoned it was just stress caused by the kidnapping and the approaching meeting, but as February 14th crept closer, Kaiba's nerves were reaching the breaking point.

**Foreshadowing Fear **

**P**eace and quiet were two of Keiko's favourite things, but since she had returned from a dimension not even her boyfriend's boss knew about, both were in short supply. Three months has passed since her trip and her nightmares had faded. At first she was just picturing the memories from past years that she had locked away for fear of her sanity. Then she started dreaming about her time in Halloween Town and how she had been confused with a small, green skinned witch named Shock. Whenever she awoke she wondered if the other two people who had been kidnapped were having similar problems. She hadn't seen them since they had split up at the town square. Soon the dreams stopped and she forgot about the experience.

Then, as January faded into February, the nightmares returned and took a turn in a new direction. Instead of dreaming about her past and previous holiday experience, Keiko was dreaming about what shouldn't be. Cupids with flaming and fatal arrows filled her dreams causing her to scream and make her parents rush into her room in the middle of the night.

Her only comfort was that she was not a psychic like her friends so her dreams could not come true. Unfortunately, her boyfriend, Yusuke, overlooked this fact and had started to trail her like a puppy on a lease that was super-glued to her hand. As February 14th, the day of cupids firing their arrows at couples, approached Yusuke became clingier and clingier.

To make matters worse, the dreams kept visiting her and soon she saw that the cupids weren't aiming at her but someone else. Try as she might, Keiko couldn't remember who. This frustration grew as her amount of sleep decreased due to the dreams, but Keiko was sure that somehow it could all come to ahead on the day she was starting to dread.


	2. Meeting Friends

**Meeting with a Friend **

**P**art of him just wanted to hide under the covers for the day, but Trunks eventually crawled out of bed. As he rubbed the sleep from his blue eyes and glanced at the date on his calendar, he felt his unease return at full force. The day he was dreading had arrived. Because he was still struggling to believe that it was the meeting that was making him worry, he spent an extra five minutes in the bathroom making sure that he was well dressed and that his purple hair was neat and tidy. After eating a small breakfast by saiyan standards, he packed up his presentation, put on his winter coat, took a deep breath, and walked out the door.

Snow covered the ground in a soft blanket and the light from the sun reflecting off it was almost blinding. However, Trunks barely even noticed as he started to walk. He had barely made it to the road when he heard someone shout. At once, Trunks felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up and he lowered into a defensive crouch as he searched for the source of the noise. As a tall, shaggy, black haired man in an orange coat ran up to him, Trunks moved out of his crouch and his searching frown turned into a grin. Once the man was close enough, Trunks said, "I thought you had training today."

Goten's brown eyes were wide and grinning. "Mom dragged Dad into town to go shopping."

Trunks winced in sympathy. He had been forced into going shopping with Goten's mother, Chi Chi, and his own mother, Bulma, when he was younger so he knew just how dangerous the mall could be and how out of control the mothers could be when they went shopping. However, he was sure that Chi Chi had just gone shopping because Goten had complained about it. When he asked, his friend nodded and said, "She thinks that Dad needs some new clothes."

Again Trunks winced. "Ouch. At least he won't have to carry a lot of bags since most of the clothes probably won't fit."

Goten laughed. "That's true. The last time she made him carry a stack so high it scraped the ceiling."

Trunks laughed. "You should have seen the load Bra came back with when she dragged my dad. We could barely fit it into the house and that was just shopping 'for fun.'"

They continued to laugh until Trunks' alarm went off on his watch. After fumbling with his many papers, he was finally able to turn off the alarm and face his friend.

"Got a hot date?"

Trunks shook his head. "I wish. I have to give a sales pitch to another company."

"What's the difference other than the CEO isn't a cute girl?"

Rolling his eyes, Trunks let out a very sarcastic laugh. "Ha ha. Although I don't remember the fate of my company's sales resting on whether I can get a girl to date me or not."

Now it was Goten's time to wince in sympathy. "When's your appointment?"

"Three."

Goten frowned and looked at his own watch. "But it's only one."

Trunks nodded. "I know but if I stick around any longer I'm going to go nuts. If I walk to the other company, I should get there on time. Speaking of which," Trunks started to walk towards the sidewalk, "I'd better get going."

Goten nodded and followed. "You'll have an hour to spare when you get there."

"Enough time to get a coffee to smooth my nerves and warm up."

"And maybe flirt with the waitress?" Goten asked with a grin.

Trunks nodded and grinned back. "And introduce her to my friend who can't get to a date on time to save his life?"

Goten frowned as he paused to look both ways before crossing a street. "I can so get to a date on time!"

Trunks laughed as he continued walking without looking. "Really? And what was the lovely lady doing when you arrived on your last date?"

"That waiter started it."

Trunks laughed again. "Face it, Goten. You couldn't arrive at a date on time if the world depended on it."

His friend crossed his arms as he slowly caught up. "One day you'll get hit by a car because you didn't look both ways and I'll be there laughing it up."

Trunks laughed again as he walked out into a street, once again without looking. "Sure, and that'll be the day when you get to a date on time."

Suddenly the hairs on the back of his neck stood up and he froze. The unease he had been hiding jumped out and caused him to stare wide-eyed at the spot in front of him. A powerful energy appeared out of nowhere right behind. Memories returned to Trunks of the day when he was just a child and his father fought Buu and lost. Now this energy was a thousand times more powerful, and it was right behind him. And he was open for an attack.

A second later, he found himself shoved to the side by Goten as a car roared over the spot where he had been standing and the energy vanished.

"I told you!" Goten said as he helped his friend up. "I told you, you'd get hit by a car if you didn't look both ways. Why the heck did you stop?"

Trunks shook his head, ignoring the snow now stuck in his hair, as he looked back the way they had come, searching for any enemies. "Didn't you sense that?"

Goten frowned. "What?"

"A huge energy. It was right behind me."

His friend forced him to start walking again so that they were back on the sidewalk and out of harm's way. "Trunks, I didn't sense anything." He frowned. "Maybe you should call and cancel that meeting."

"I'm not going crazy!"

Goten nodded but his eyes were serious. "I'm not saying you are, but, Trunks, if the energy was as strong as you make it seem, I should have sensed it."

Trunks shook his head as he sat down on one of the many snow-covered bus benches that lined the streets. "I'm not crazy," he repeated. "There was something there. Strong and deadly."

"Evil?"

He started to agree but then paused. "I don't know," Trunks finally said. "I just know it wasn't good news."

Goten looked at his best friend for a long minute before saying, "Well at least I'll get to my date on time today."

Knowing that Goten was worried about him, Trunks forced himself to laugh but as they stood and continued their walk, he took a short glance over his shoulder. This time he wasn't going to fall for any tricks.

**Meeting with an Ally **

"**Y**esterday you said that you would work until four and now you want to leave at two?"

His secretary nodded. "I realize I should have given you more notice but I forgot about the time change for his flight and just realized it last night at 11:00."

Kaiba found himself frowning as he punched in the code to deactivate the alarms in the building. "And what makes you think I'm going to agree to let you go early? Today is the meeting with Capsule Corps, if you bothered to remember."

She nodded as she followed him to the elevator that led to his office. "Yes, I remembered but Toriyama Co. cancelled so that means we can move that appointment up an hour and you don't really need me for that. Besides, I recall working overtime on October 31st trying to find you when I could have been doing something else."

'Like handing candy out to kids who were going to have enormous dental bills,' Kaiba thought before saying, "Takahashi, I don't have time to worry about what plans you wanted to have. I pay you to be here and expect you to work for the amount of time you signed for or more. Not less."

She didn't look at him as she slipped off her coat and placed it in the closet at the far side of the office. "I recall reading in my contract that if I had an emergency that my time could be negotiated."

He glared at her out of the corner of his eyes as he started up her computer. "Your brother coming in for the weekend does not qualify as an emergency."

"Kenta isn't my brother! He's my boyfriend!"

Kaiba was able to hide the shiver of shock by brushing pass her to hang up his coat. Somehow, he always forgot that Takahashi had a life outside work. "That's even less an emergency," he growled.

Takahashi shook her head so hard that some of her black hair slipped from her ponytail. "I don't know how you missed it but today is Valentines so if you don't mind, I would actually like to send one holiday with someone close to me because I spent the last three here in the office."

Kaiba shook his head as he entered his office and knelt down to turn on his computer. "We were closed on Christmas and New Year's and White Day is only a month away."

She had followed him into the room with an armful of papers and had started to lay them out on his desk. Although, Kaiba had to admit she seemed to be slamming them down more than anything.

"Yes we were closed but if I recall, you called me in to help with your latest project."

"And you could have refused and spent more time with your boyfriend."

"Kenta doesn't live here, Mister Kaiba, so when I get to see him it's special, and I would like to leave at two so that I can meet him at the airport."

"He has two legs and a heartbeat, what's stopping him from walking?"

She had finished laying out the papers and seemed to be resisting the urge to slap him. He watched as she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and reopened them so that green was looking at blue. "So I take it that's a no."

He nodded and sat down at his desk. "Tell me when the man from Capsule Corps arrives."

Takahashi nodded and turned to leave. "As you wish, Great Pharaoh. By the way, you have something in your hair."

He resisted the urge to pat his head to figure out what was in his brown hair until she had left the room and the door was shut. When he investigated, he realized that he had snow on his head from his walk into the building. For the first time that day, he glanced over his shoulder and out the window at the falling snow.

She should have known better than to speak like that to him since he could easily fire her. However, as he flipped through the papers she had left for him, he knew he wouldn't. She was too valuable and normally, he would have let her leave early. But for some reason, he wanted to keep an eye on her today. If he was able to admit it to himself, he'd say he had a feeling that something was going to happen to her. Something similar to what had happened to him on Halloween. But he refused to admit that to himself and instead started to read over the reference material that Takahashi had found on Capsule Corps in preparation for his meeting later that day.

**Meeting with a Puppy **

Sunlight creeped through the window, crawling up the light blue walls of her room as it slowly made its way over to her bed in the corner. Eventually it came to rest on top of her mop of brown hair and sat, waiting for her to wake. If Keiko had been awake, maybe she would have felt better that someone was watching her twist and turn as her nightmare neared the end. At 7:00 Keiko awoke, panting for breath. As she raised herself out of her covers with practiced ease, she glanced around her room. Stuff animals lined the shelves along with many pictures of family, friends, and good times. More than once in the past, she had lay in her room and looked at those objects for comfort. Now, not even the goofy grin of her boyfriend when he was six could make her smile.

Last night she had the dream again, and she was sure that she had looked right at the person's face as he ran by while the cupids shot at him. For at least five minutes she sat in her bed with her eyes closed, trying to remember the face. Trying to bring it all into sense. Nothing. All she knew was that the cupids were attacking a boy and part of her wondered if she should tell Yusuke.

She pondered her question as she started her day. While she dressed she went over the pros and cons. Yusuke knew she was having the dreams. He knew what the dreams were about. However, he also knew she wasn't psychic. A fact that had been proven multiple times over the past four years. Unfortunately, he did know that enemy psychics could spend horrible visions through dreams and he knew that she had a reputation for getting caught in the middle between him and his enemies. But if she told him that the dreams had stopped, he could either think that the threat had passed or, knowing Yusuke, think that the bad guy was about to make his move.

'He probably would ignore the fact that I wasn't the one being shot at,' Keiko decided as she slipped on a blue shirt that matched her blue eyes.

As she ate her breakfast she decided not to tell him because that would only make him worry more. Something about how the more she remembers, the more powerful the vision was. While she was putting her dishes away, her boyfriend stepped into the house. His gelled black hair was slowly loosing its form and was starting to fall towards his brown eyes because of the melting snow on his head. Instead of a nice 'Hello,' or 'Did you miss me?' the first thing he said was, "Any dreams?"

She shook her head and barely noticed that his worried frown didn't disappear as he looked around. "Where's your parents?"

"Probably sleeping in. The restaurant's close today, but," she removed a piece of paper from the fridge, "I have some things I need to pick up."

Yusuke nodded and turned to walk out of the room. "Let's make this quick. I told the gang we'd meet them at Kuwabara's for chocolate switching."

As Keiko grabbed her backpack filled with the chocolate she couldn't help but sigh. It looked like he still worried that an enemy was waiting in the shadows. However, today he did offer to carry her backpack. A first in their relationship. Usually he watched her carry her books or (rarely) he took them from her without asking. Wondering what was up, she handed it over to him. She hadn't realized she was staring until Yusuke asked what she was looking at and she replied, "Nothing." They walked down the street towards the market, and she couldn't help but wonder if maybe one of the other boys had told him to act nicer towards her today. Or maybe he knew if he didn't behave, he wouldn't get his chocolate.

She sighed as they walked out onto the street. It probably was the chocolate.


	3. Vanishing Friends

**Vanishing Support **

**S**now had started to fall as Trunks and Goten reached the towering building that was Kaiba Corps. They were half an hour early and decided to just sit and wait in the waiting area, rather than go to a nearby coffee shop. As they sat and waited, Trunks tried to resist the urge to look over his shoulder or let his chi lash out. The last thing he wanted was for Goten to think that he really was losing it and tell his mother or father. He would never hear the end of it and it would be even worse if his younger sister, Bra, found out. Unfortunately, Trunks was so focused on not appearing crazy that he failed to notice his tapping foot.

"You sure you're okay?" Goten asked after five minutes of Trunk's foot tapping.

Trunks nodded as he uncrossed his legs. "Yeah. I'm probably just tired. I kept dreaming about the dragon balls spinning around my head except they were pink with red hearts instead of yellow with orange stars." He leaned back in the chair and started pulling papers from his briefcase. "Must be the stress."

Goten nodded and grinned as he watched his friend flip through his reference material. "Cheer up. Remember, v for victory."

"That's easy for you to say. You don't have to give a presentation to a board of directors and another CEO in an attempt to branch out your company because sales aren't as high as they could be and your mom found out."

Goten put his arms behind his head as he leaned back in his seat. "I guess but why did you decide to join up with another CEO?"

"Believe me. If I didn't have to get sales up ASAP, I'd be making contacts overseas myself." He shrugged. "But mom wants them up ASAP."

Goten nodded as he looked around again. "I still don't get why you picked this company. Kaiba Corps is all about gaming."

Trunks nodded as he put his papers back in his case. "But it also has around the world contacts and since they only do gaming they'll probably want to branch out now that people have less time and money for gaming."

His friend frowned. "I guess but isn't the CEO supposed to be cold as ice and a perfectionist? How are you going to survive working with him?"

"Actually he's only a pain if you get on his bad side," a female voice said, "which, unfortunately, is easy."

Both men looked up to see a young woman standing in front of them. She smiled and turned to Trunks. "Hello. You have the 3:00 appointment right?"

He nodded as he stood up and shook her hand. "Yeah. My name is Trunks."

"And I'm Goten."

The woman smiled again. "We had a cancelation so if you're ready, Mister Kaiba could see you now."

Trunks nodded. "That'd be awesome."

"Great." She grinned and leaned in while putting her hand to the side of her mouth. "But my advice is to ditch the presentation and just say what you want and foresee," she whispered. "His prototype exploded earlier and he's a bit edgy."

Trunks nodded and turned to Goten. "This shouldn't take too long."

The long haired man nodded with another grin. "I'll wait around and see how things turn out but I have a date at five and today I **will** get there on time."

Trunks grinned as he started to follow the secretary. "Duly noted."

Within seconds he found himself in a large office. The view from the window was amazing, and with a sigh of relief, Trunks noticed that there was only one other person in the room. As fate would have it, the man standing behind the desk wasn't much older than Trunks but he was also familiar.

As they shook hands, Trunks noticed the barely visible fatigue in the blue eyes and the faint twitch of the man's shoulders as if he was tempted to look behind him. However, Trunks also noticed the almost freakishly neat desk and the way the man didn't even have to look as he reached into his desk to remove a piece of paper and a pen. Finally, when the man introduced himself as Kaiba, Seto, Trunks remembered that he had been locked in a tree house with this man. Sensing that blurting something along those lines would probably get him kicked out of the office and another lecture from his mom, Trunks wisely kept his mouth shut and sat down. Although the idea of having the deal not go through seemed more and more attractive as the man glared at him like he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

Right off the bat, Kaiba said that he wasn't convinced that capsule technology wasn't as usable as Trunks had claimed. Prepared, Trunks pulled out three capsules and opened them with a simple push of a button. In four small clouds, a cooler, TV, the dragon ball radar, and car appeared in the office. After Kaiba inspected each one, Trunks returned them to capsules just as easily. Convinced, Kaiba then asked why he, a gaming company, would be interested in such a device. When Trunks replied that making gaming more portable would increase sales, Kaiba replied that it would also make the objects easier to lose.

"And then they'll have to buy new ones."

Kaiba nodded but said, "If that's true, then why are the Capsule Corps' sales so low?"

Not wanting to weakened his argument, Trunks moved in his seat to become more comfortable before saying, "If you lose your car, would you really go buy a new one? Plus all capsules come with a case that has a small tracker in it."

Kaiba frowned. "That was not listed in the information you gave me."

"If we are only making one set of capsules for you, then why would we need to make a case for it?"

"And supposing that I decide not to take this deal?"

"If you come out with anything close to a capsule, we will not hesitate to sue you." Trunks leaned back in his chair. "Of course that's assuming you'll waste 10 to 20 years developing it."

Kaiba nodded and Trunks sighed. Now came the part he really hated. Negotiating the price and cut of sales. As Kaiba named his first offer, Trunks stiffened. For a second, he could have sworn that he felt that insanely strong power from on the walk over again. When it vanished, Trunks allowed himself to relax and reply to Kaiba. However, when Kaiba made his next offer, Trunks was once again distracted. Goten's energy, which he was sure had been in the office up to when he felt that power, had vanished. While half of him concentrated on coming to a reasonable deal with Kaiba, the rest focused on trying to find Goten. Figuring that he couldn't have gone far since it was only 2:47, Trunks 'checked' the surrounding blocked but felt nothing.

After a good five minutes, they finally reached a half-way point, and Kaiba pushed the button on the intercom so that his secretary could come in with the proper papers. A couple of seconds passed but the door to the office didn't open. Frowning, Kaiba got up and left the office. Still worried about Goten, Trunks followed, hoping to see where his friend had gone or if he had left a note. Goten and the secretary were nowhere to be seen.

For a few seconds, Kaiba flipped through the papers on the desk before turning to Trunks and saying that he'd send him the necessary paper work when he had it.

Trunks nodded. He had to find Goten, and he had a very strong feeling that he wouldn't find his friend by waiting around Kaiba Corps. However, as he passed where Goten had been sitting, he found a small, heart shaped pendant with a ruby heart in the center on a golden chain. Without really thinking about it, Trunks picked it up, put it in his pocket, and went to find his friend.

**Vanishing Aid **

**T**his was the last thing he needed, Kaiba thought as he pushed open the door from his office. Takahashi usually was alert and ready whenever he buzzed for her. But of course, the day that he really needed her to be paying attention, she wasn't. Of course, there were other possibilities for why she hadn't come when he had buzzed. The first was that the intercom was not working. (Takahashi had been complaining yesterday that she heard more static than what he said.) The second was that Takahashi was ignoring him in retaliation for not letting her go early. (However that was too childish for her personality.) The third was that she was talking with the man who had came with Trunks and didn't notice the buzz. (Unlikely but possible.) However, the fourth reason seemed most likely. She had left without telling him and ignored him when he told her she couldn't leave early.

Now as he pushed open the door and saw that she was nowhere in sight, he felt his stomach turn over. It looked like she wasn't quite as valuable as he had thought. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to find the paper he wanted, he still tried to locate it in the mess on her desk. When he was proven correct, he turned to Trunks and promised to fax him the information. He barely noticed when the other man agreed and left. Kaiba was too focused on the fact that Takahashi had actually done something so stupid. If she had interrupted the meeting to say that she was leaving, then he wouldn't be able to do anything about it. She could have gotten off scot free. Instead she left without telling him and, mostly likely, was going to be looking for another job tomorrow.

He rubbed at his eyes with one hand as he tried to figure out what she had been thinking. When he removed his hand, he noticed a small necklace sitting on the edge of her desk. It was a small locket on a silver chain with an amethyst heart on it.

Probably some gift from her boyfriend, Kaiba figured. He thought he had told her to keep personal items out of sight so that they wouldn't get taken but Takahashi rarely listened to him, so he wasn't surprised. However, as he walked towards his office a ringing noise distracted him. Turning back to her desk, he noticed her black cell phone sitting on the desk, the screen glowing. Knowing that he was going to regret it, he answered the call.

"Hello?" he said.

The voice on the other end was male and annoyed. "Who are you? Where's Naomi?"

"She isn't here and I'm her boss." He paused before asking, "Can I take a message?"

"For a second there I thought I wasn't the only one cheating. Of course Naomi wouldn't do that. Yes. I was hoping to tell her in person but I guess you'll do. This is Kenta, her boyfriend." The man paused and Kaiba nodded although he was aware the man couldn't see him. "Tell her not to bother coming to airport. I'm going to my girlfriend's."

Kaiba's frown grew. "Pardon?" he said, attempting politeness.

"Just tell her that I'm tried of chasing two girls and I've decided who I'm staying with and it isn't her. Okay?"

"You mean that she isn't with you."

"Why would I be calling her cell if she was with me? I've been waiting for her at the airport with my gal for half an hour. Just give her the message, okay?"

Without answering, Kaiba hit the call end button and closed the phone. If she wasn't with her boyfriend (now was her ex-boyfriend), then where was she and why did she leave her cell behind?

**Vanishing Shield **

Four months ago spending time alone with Yusuke was a treat. He used to spend hours with his friends, training or just teasing them. Within a normal two weeks, she would probably only be alone with him for an hour total spread out over the period. In an abnormal week, she wouldn't see him at all because he'd be off fighting or solving problems between demons and humans. It wasn't all his fault though. Since going to Dai-ichi School for Girls, her workload had increased greatly. However, as she and he walked side by side down a crowded street, Keiko could see how too much of a good thing was a bad thing.

Yes, Yusuke was trying very hard to be on his best behaviour. He hadn't really caused any trouble or complained while she shopped for groceries and then paused in a jewellery store because she saw some things she thought the other girls would like. He hadn't really started a fight with anyone, and he was walking beside her like a good boyfriend would.

However, either he didn't believe her lie about her dreams or he felt danger coming because every time someone Yusuke didn't know walked by, he would glare at them as if daring the person to make a move. Already he had reduced two middle-school girls to tears, nearly got into a fight with a kid at Kasanegafuchi Junior High, and caused a store owner to kick him out when he started asking another customer odd questions.

Although to be fair, the last person he was glaring at **was** rather weird. As Yusuke asked him questions about where he was from and what he was doing, the man just kept grinning and looking back and forth between her and Yusuke. Keiko was almost glad when the store owner asked her and Yusuke to leave since Yusuke didn't seem to have any intention to do so. Not that she would ever let him know.

"Yusuke, you can't pick fights with people like that."

He had his arms behind his head and looked across the street as they started to walk back to the Yukimura's restaurant. "Give me a break Keiko. That guy was obviously up to something."

She shook her head. "You aren't a spirit detective anymore. You should just let it go. If that person was a demon, he has a right to be here."

Yusuke glared at her and shook his head. "He wasn't a demon."

"Humans have a right to live too."

He shook his head. "Damn it, Keiko. That guy wasn't normal!"

She glared back at him. "And you are?"

"Hey! We are talking about that weirdo in the store not me!"

Keiko paused to put her key into the lock of her front door. "Sure Yusuke."

Behind her Yusuke let out a growl. "I'm going for a walk!"

Before she could even turn, Yusuke had started walking down the street. Sighing, she walked into her house. It had occurred to her that Yusuke was feeling stressed from being on guard all the time, but she didn't really think that it would affect him so much. Normally, he would just growl and then be quiet for a little while. Of course, maybe he just needed some alone time and some person to fight. Since he had started guarding her three months ago, he hadn't gotten into one fight except for a few training battles.

'He's probably missing it,' she decided as she started to put her groceries away.

Once she had finished, Yusuke hadn't appeared so she decided to wrap the gifts she had gotten for the other girls for White Day. She finished the task quickly and put the gifts into her desk drawer so that she would remember where she had put them.

By then Yusuke still hadn't returned to the house. Starting to get worried, Keiko looked out the window, expecting to see him coming around the corner. Nothing. Rather than wait for him to show up, Keiko slipped back into her shoes, and walked down the way she saw Yusuke go. She half-expected to round the corner and see a trail of unconscious bodies showing where Yusuke had went. Nothing. When she asked one of the storeowners if they had seen him, she said that he had been approached by a young man in black leather with blonde hair.

"They probably went over to the empty lot to fight or something," the woman had said.

Keiko thanked her and quickly went to the lot. The description sounded a little too much like the stranger in the store for her taste. When she arrived at the lot, signs of Yusuke were all over the place. Craters littered the area, showing that Yusuke had been right when he said that the stranger was not normal. But Yusuke was nowhere in sight. Neither was the unconscious body of the man he had been fighting. However, Keiko did find a small pendant with a silver chain with an emerald carved into the shape of a heart on it. Thinking that the other man had dropped it, she picked it up. After all, maybe he would be willing to tell her where Yusuke was if she returned it. However, before she started talking to strangers who were able to beat up Yusuke, who was a level S Demon, she wanted to look for him herself.


	4. Gathering Forces

**Gathering of Forces **

**V**arious scenarios popped into his head when Trunks had finished flying over the citywithout so much as catching a trial of Goten's energy. After he had changed into some more comfortable clothing that didn't include a suit, he had gone in search of his friend. However, barely five minutes into his search his mind drifted as he tried to figure out what had happened to his friend.

It was possible that Goten had spotted the enemy that Trunks had sensed earlier and went off to fight at an undisclosed location, and he didn't want to worry Trunks so he left without alerting him. However, Goten could have spotted an enemy and had gotten himself killed instead. On the other hand, Goten may have gotten hit by a car and was passed out in the snow bank. Or Goten had spotted a girl and went to flirt leaving a note with the secretary who left soon afterwards.

Although Trunks didn't want to believe it, the second enemy situation seemed to be the most likely. He had combed the city for three hours with his chi and hadn't sensed his friend anywhere. As the sky darkened creating a premature nightfall, he decided to check a bit of the city on foot just in case. Goten could be hiding his energy and waiting to jump out at him after all.

He walked pass one of the many parks in the city, pausing to take in the beauty of the area. People were walking around, talking, laughing, generally having a good time. And then there was her. Off to the side was a young woman who looked just as worried as he was. When she turned to face him, he realized he knew her.

"Hey Keiko!" he shouted as he walked up to her. He wasn't sure if she remembered him but since he had already ran into Kaiba, he figured he might as well find out how things were going with her.

She blinked at him as he walked towards her. "Uh, do I know you?"

He smiled. "Remember me? It's Trunks."

Her mouth opened into an 'oh.' "Sorry. I didn't recognize you. How are you?"

He shrugged as he put his hands into his pockets. "Be better if I could find my friend. You haven't happened to see a guy walk by in serious need of a haircut have you? He looks sorta like me but with long black hair."

Keiko shook her head. "No but Yusuke has gone missing too."

Trunks frowned. "That's the guy who met you at the square, right?"

She nodded. "He said he was going for a walk but then he got into a fight with a biker and I haven't been able to find him."

"Did you try the hospitals?"

She shook her head as she watched a dog waddle by. "Yusuke wouldn't go to a hospital if he was hurt and I can't get in touch with any of our friends."

Trunks nodded. "It's starting to seem like what happened to us except from what Pan told me when she was trying to find me they at least had a clue to go on. Apparently, your friend sensed my energy by the graveyard and they were able to track us that way."

Keiko frowned. "You're a psychic?"

Trunks laughed a little bit. "Well I wouldn't say psychic but I can sense energy."

"Then you can help me find Yusuke?"

"Maybe." He paused to look around the park. "But I don't have a clue what sort of energy I'm looking for."

"Well he's part demon so he'll have a bit of demon and spirit energy."

His face must have shown his confusion because Keiko frowned. "You don't know about demons?"

"The only things I've ever heard about are aliens."

"Aren't those not real?"

Trunks took his hands out of his pockets. "Look, we're getting off track. Spirit energy must be like chi since your friend was able to sense me. So if you can take me back to a spot where your friend used his energy, I might be able to pick up the trail."

Keiko frowned. "Well it's worth a try but I don't think Yusuke has used his spirit gun for a while."

Rather than waste time asking what a spirit gun was, Trunks tried to think of some way that chi and the spirit energy that Keiko was talking about could be the same. "Well he uses it while he fights, doesn't he? Like to fly and such?"

"Fly?"

Trunks laughed nervously. It looked like finding Goten had just become a lot harder than he had thought. Not only did he just find out that demons were apparently real but there were other types of energy than just chi. "Okay. Maybe not fly. But does he use his energy to…" he paused, trying to think of the right words, "well…" Keiko waited patiently. Before Trunks could think of the right words his cell phone went off. "Sorry. Just give me a second." He flipped open the cell and put it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Briefs, this is Kaiba. You haven't found your friend."

Trunks frowned, well aware of Keiko listening to every word. "That wasn't a question, was it?"

"I have something you might want to see."

"And that is?"

"Security footage."

Trunks nodded. "I'll be right there."

"Front door is locked so come through the back door."

"Alright." He folded his phone shut and put it back in his pocket before turning to Keiko. "Do you remember Kaiba? The other person who was taken to Halloween Town?"

She nodded.

"Well his secretary is missing too and from the sounds of it he found something. I'm going to meet him back at his company. You coming?"

She nodded. "If it will help me find Yusuke, then yes."

Trunks nodded and started walking down the street. "Kaiba Corps is only a block away so we might as well walk."

As Keiko followed behind him, he wondered what Kaiba had to show them and if it would even be useful.

**Gathering of Forces **

**A**fter watching the video two times, Kaiba still couldn't believe that he saw. However, instead of watching the video again for the third time, Kaiba decided to try to figure out what he had seen. It didn't make sense. One second Takahashi was working at her desk while Briefs' friend was staring at the ceiling. The next they had disappeared. He had already gone through all the possible technological problems that could have resulted in the cameras missing some time. Although after running many tests he had found that the cameras had been working just fine. So that meant that one second Takahashi was there and the next she wasn't. It made no sense.

A knock on the door pulled him from his thoughts and he pushed a button on the keyboard that allowed the door to be opened. Two people then stepped in. Briefs and the girl they had met in the nuthouse.

"Hope you don't mind but I brought a friend," Briefs said as he made his way over to the computer. "So what did you have to show me?"

Kaiba nodded towards the screen. "This." He typed some information into the computer and replayed the video. "This is the area outside my office at 2:46. As you can see both my secretary and your friend are in the office." Briefs nodded and watched the video. When the video changed time to 2:47 both people disappeared from view as if they had never been there.

"Yusuke went for a walk at about 2:00," Keiko muttered to herself as she stared at the screen. Briefs, on the other hand, just narrowed his eyes.

"Can you replay that?"

Kaiba nodded and replayed the video.

"Pause it!"

Kaiba obeyed but glanced at Briefs. What had the man seen that he hadn't? The screen didn't look any different from the first time he had paused it after the disappearance.

Briefs frowned and ignored the looks Keiko and Kaiba were giving him. "You missed it. Can you slow this footage down?"

Kaiba glared at him but did as he said. However, a few seconds into viewing Briefs said, "It needs to be as slow as you can make it or else you won't be able to catch it."

"If that's true, then how can you see it?"

Briefs glanced away from the screen long enough to say, "I've been training since I was a kid to track movements faster than typical human eyes can see. It can be… useful in our line of work." He suddenly pointed at the screen. "Look."

Kaiba turned his attention back to screen in time to see a man dressed in a pink suit with blonde hair walk into the room and whack Briefs' friend on the back of the neck before turning and doing the same to Takahashi. Then the man picked up both of the now unconscious people and walked out the door. All in under half a second. Kaiba's eyes were wide after watching that.

"That's impossible! How can someone move so fast?"

Briefs shook his head. "It's not as uncommon as you think. Almost every one of my family's friends can move that quickly. Heck if I wanted to I could kill both of you right now and be on the other side of the planet before the cameras could even blink."

Kaiba decided to ignore him and kept silent as Keiko asked, "So who was that man?"

"Since Briefs seems to know all about this, maybe he can tell us."

Briefs shrugged. "No one I know. But a lot of enemies we meet can move just as fast as us or faster."

Keiko suddenly pointed at the screen. "Hey, what is he putting on the seat and desk?"

The males turned to look back at the screen and watched as the man finished placing something on the desk before leaving. This time, he didn't return. Without being asked, Kaiba zoomed in on the desk.

"It looks like a locket," Briefs said.

Kaiba's eyes narrowed. It looked like the locket he had found on Takahashi's desk. He took it out of his pocket and laid it on the keyboard so he could compare to the video. It was the same. "Why would he leave a locket?" he wondered aloud.

"Maybe it's a sign," Keiko said as she took a similar pendant from her pocket so she could look at it. "I found this at the place where Yusuke was fighting a biker."

"It must have been the same guy but in a disguise," Briefs said as he also pulled out his piece of jewellery. "But I'm with Kaiba. Why would he leave these? It doesn't make sense."

Keiko was frowning as she turned her locket over in her hands. "I wonder." She slipped the pendant over her head and suddenly her eyes went glassy. Her voice was low and distant. Almost as if she was a speaker and someone was talking into a microphone from too far away.

"The way to the temple is filled with peril.

Three tests you must past until at last

Your lovers you will soon meet.

Retrieve three treasures

One from each god.

One dream will lead the way to

The gift from the mother

The sword of a fighter

And the lance of the one of the sea.

You must hurry to complete these tasks

For time is short

It cannot last.

Twelve hours you have until at last

The trial shall end and memories pass."

Keiko's head dropped to her chest but she didn't collapse, much to Kaiba's relief. At the mention of lovers, Briefs looked ready to faint and Kaiba didn't feel like catching any girls. Slowly, Keiko's eyes opened and she raised her head. "What happened?" she asked.

Before Kaiba could say anything, Briefs found his voice. "Lovers? Goten and I aren't lovers! We're straight! We've always been straight! We'll always be straight!" He collapsed into one of the many chairs in the room and somehow, Kaiba couldn't fault him for it. Having your preferences called into question was bound to make any man very confused. "This is so messed up," Briefs said before falling silent.

Keiko glanced at Kaiba and he felt the need to explain since Briefs obviously was in no state to do so. "You went into a trance and said something about how we have to find three gifts in twelve hours so that we can save our 'lovers' and his brain imploded. In other words, at this point, he's useless."

Keiko frowned. "I thought that your secretary went missing."

Kaiba nodded. "You also said that Briefs' friend was his lover. Your point?"

Briefs suddenly stood up. "Alright! I'm going to find those gifts, get my friend back, and kill the guy who dares to question my preferences! Which way?"

Kaiba couldn't help but roll his eyes. "You expect us to know?"

Briefs laughed nervously. "Oh right." He paused to think. "Keiko said that our dreams would lead the way so what dreams have we had?"

Kaiba shook his head. "I've been pulling all-nighters since the beginning of this week and even if I was having dreams, they would not be about some quest."

Briefs glared in his direction before looking at Keiko. "What about you?"

She shook her head. "I just dreamt about cupids attacking a boy. I'm guessing it was Yusuke and that was just a warning."

"I guess my dream is the one that will lead us then."

Kaiba glared back. "Which was?"

"I don't know whether you've heard of them but there's these things called Dragon Balls—"

"That when you get all of them together it will grant you any wish you want. I've heard the legend, so what's your point?"

Again Briefs glared at him. "It's no legend, but that's not the point. In my dream they were almost like a Valentines version. They were pink with red hearts." He paused as he tried to remember more. "And there were three of them."

"One for each of us. Perfect," Kaiba muttered sarcastically.

Trunks ignored him and continued speaking, "Although that doesn't explain what they have to do with gifts from a mother, a sword, and a lance."

Keiko glanced back at the screen where the picture of the locket was still shown. "How will we find them?"

Both males were silent until Kaiba saw that Keiko's necklace was glowing. "Briefs, you said that you had a radar that would light up and show you where a radioactive object is, correct?"

Briefs nodded. "Yeah my mom designed it."

"Did it ever occur to you that the lockets could work in the same way?"

Briefs and Keiko looked down at her locket and noticed the glowing. "It could work similarly," Briefs said. "But we won't know until we're outside and start looking."

Kaiba nodded and grabbed his coat. "Let's go. The sooner we find them, the sooner I can pretend this never happened." He heard the two follow him but he chose to ignore Briefs muttering, "Well there's a cheery attitude."


	5. Trapped

**Trapped in Hell **

**L**ava was the last thing Goten expected to see when he first opened his eyes. As he raised himself to his feet, he took a long look at the scenery around him. The sun was shining down on him from a pink sky, and it appeared as if he was standing in a courtyard of some sort. The stones under his feet were white marble and made a huge half circle. It had to have at least a mile for a radius and pillars lined the outer rim of circle. Before him was a volcano from which the lava was flowing. However, the lava seemed to be avoiding making contact with the marble of the half circle. Behind him was a Greek building with a series of white pillars holding up the triangle roof surrounded by a thick forest.

While Goten studied the scenery, he became aware of a constantly morphing man poking him in the side. One second, the man was black haired and covered in paint splatters. Then he had brown hair, buff, and dressed in a soccer uniform. Next he was blonde and seemed to have a charming aura that most guys would kill to have. The one thing that didn't change was the man's dark pink eyes that seem to stare right through Goten.

Suddenly the man took a step back and grinned showing off straight teeth that were so white that Goten narrowed his eyes for fear of going blind.

"Glad to see you survived the trip," the man said as he changed into a skinny man with books under arm and glasses. "The last alien I brought here died on the way. Although you are half human so that probably helps."

Goten could only nod as the energy of the man started to flood his senses. If that man was what Trunks had sensed, it was no surprised that he had frozen on the street. As it was, Goten found himself barely breathing from the unease that filled his body. One flick to the forehead and he would have his brains coming out his ears. Or would his head just explode into tiny little pieces? The thought made even his saiyan stomach not want to eat.

When Goten didn't say anything, the man stuck out his hand and said, "I'm Eros by the way, but the Romans called me Cupid."

For a second, Goten struggled to remember what his history books had said about a man named Eros. By the time he was born, Chi Chi had relaxed when it came to forcing her sons to be scholars but he was sure that he had heard that name before. Cupid was related to Valentine's Day and the man said that he was called Cupid by the Romans so what was he? A hero? A god? A monster?

Eros still had his hand outstretched and was waiting. Unsure of what else to do, Goten shook his hand and said, "I'm Goten."

Eros' smiling face became a frown as he morphed into a strong red haired man in a pink plaid shirt. "You're male." Suddenly he became blonde once again in a blue school uniform and turned his back to Goten as he said, "I was really hoping for platonic sister-brother love for my collection. I already have platonic brother love. Hm." He suddenly turned back to Goten as he changed into a brown haired biker. "You aren't straight, are you?"

"And if I am?"

Eros took a step back and turned into a white haired man in a pink suit. A closet appeared out of nowhere behind him and he opened the doors with more flourish than was really needed. From it, he removed a white bow and a hot pink arrow, and Goten felt his heart jump into his throat. Something really bad, awkward, or embarrassing was about to happen. He just knew it.

"I suppose I can always fix that but this sort of love just doesn't look as nice in my collection," Eros muttered to himself as he strung the arrow on the bow before closing the closet. Slowly, he turned to Goten. "Now just hold still."

He couldn't help but take a step back. "Hey! What are you going to do with that?"

Eros smiled. "I'm just going to tweak your preferences. That's all."

Sweat rolled down Goten's face. If Eros was going to do what he thought he was going to do, not only would he be humiliated for life, but his mom was going to kill him!

Eros pulled the string back and Goten gulped as he struggled to say, "Now just wait a second…"

"Oh crap!"

Eros' arrow went wild, missing Goten by a mile but the cupid didn't seem to care. Instead he grinned as his bow vanished and he looked in the direction where the shout had come from.

"The part demon survived as well. Today really is my lucky day!"

Struggling to get his heart rate under control, Goten cautiously glanced towards the direction of the shout. About a few feet away was a man dressed in green who was clutching his head.

"Damn it that hurt," the man said as he stood up. "Must be losing my touch." With a glare from life-hardened eyes, the man faced Goten and Eros. "Alright. I don't have a clue what is going on, but I didn't sign up to be kidnapped when I entered that fight! Now get Eros out here so we can finish our fight and I can bury him six feet under."

Eros laughed and Goten subtly took a few steps away from him. He wasn't sure if the other man was stupid or insanely brave because Eros could obviously kill the guy without lifting a finger. Of course, Eros did say he was part demon and he knew Goten was part alien so did that mean that the other man was immortal like a demon? Wait a second, demons existed? That would explain the weird energy signals he had been sensing for weeks but how could they be real? While Goten tried to figure out how demons could possibly exist, Eros kept laughing.

The other man's eyes narrowed further. "What's so funny?"

Eros slowly stopped laughing and morphed into a man with blonde hair and a leather jacket. "I'm Eros."

The other man grinned as he cracked his knuckles. "Good. Then we can make this quick."

If Goten had blinked, he almost would have missed the man's first ten blows. Thankfully, after fighting for years at speeds normal humans couldn't see, he was able to follow the action without a problem. That useful skill also made it easier to stay out of the line of fire when the man's finger started to glow and something like a chi blast shot from it. However, Eros did nothing but kicks and punches. Almost as if he was just playing with the man. Maybe he didn't want to kill him yet, Goten thought as he tried to figure out what was going on. As the fight dragged on, Goten only became more confused as to what Eros wanted but he did realized one important thing. He was going to be late for his date again.

**Trapped in Chains **

**E**ros wasn't just fast, Yusuke soon learned. He also packed a punch. As Yusuke crashed into a pillar for the third time, he knew that he had at least one broken rib. However, it wasn't poking anything vital so he quickly charged into another attack only to have the son of a bitch jump into the air above the courtyard and stay there. He would have used his spirit gun except he only had three bullets left and he would probably need at least two against that other guy who was just standing there watching the battle with a focused frown on his face.

'Just what I needed,' Yusuke thought as he tried to think of something he could do. 'My girlfriend's mad at me for being a good boyfriend, and now I'm getting my ass handed to me by some freak who goes through personalities as fast as Kurama finishes homework.'

Eros mockingly landed just two feet away from Yusuke and smiled, causing Yusuke to have to shield his eyes. "Tired already, Mazoku?"

Yusuke couldn't help but grin. "Who me? I'm just getting started. Although if you really wanted to see something interesting you should get your goon over there," he pointed towards the other man, "to join in."

Eros' eyes widened while the other man started waving his arms. "I'm not with him!" the shaggy haired man shouted.

Meanwhile, Eros nodded as he changed into a tall man with orange cat ears. "He's in the same situation as yourself. Although I'm surprised you haven't joined in, saiyan. I thought you would like a good fight."

Yusuke frowned. "I don't care who he is. If he isn't on your side, then he'd better keep out of this." Before a human could even blink, the other man suddenly was standing beside him. "I thought I said to keep out of this."

The man nodded. "Yeah but he's right. You don't stand a chance on your own."

Yusuke frowned. "And I suppose you will make all the difference, Saiyan? What sort of name is that anyways?"

The man shook his head. "No. But I'm getting tired of trying to figure out what's going on and I might be able to stop him from accidently killing you. My name is Goten by the way."

A small part of Yusuke realized this and forced him to accept the man's help. "Well hell. Not like I can really hog all the fun. Just try to keep up."

Goten nodded and followed Yusuke into a charge but when Eros flew upwards to avoid them, the other man quickly took flight as well. 'Can everyone but me fly here?' Yusuke wondered as he walked the two trade punches before Goten was swatted into the ground. Now that he was watching the fight, Yusuke could truly see just how hopeless it was. However, that didn't stop him from readying his shotgun. He moved into a crouch and pulled his right arm to his side so that his other hand was clutched around his elbow. When his right fist was glowing, he focused on the son of a bitch. The whole area lit up with bright blue light as hundred of mini-spirit gun blasts fired off into random directions, most of them heading for the floating Eros. Meanwhile, the rest of the bullets smashed into the volcano behind him causing a cloud of dust and small stones to shoot towards the courtyard.

Yusuke ignored the small distractions as he scanned the area for signs of the fallen enemy. As the dust cleared he thought he saw a broken body but it was just a rock.

"That wasn't very nice."

His whole body froze as he heard the enemy speak right behind him. Yusuke quickly jumped forward and turned, ready to take whatever attack the jerk could dish out. Eros stood grinning as his outstretched hands started to glow hot pink. As Yusuke readied to blast the attack with his spirit gun, he knew he was finished. It would take a spirit tank to beat that guy.

"Neither is kidnapping innocent people!" Goten came out of nowhere and kicked Eros right in the face, causing the creep to go flying into a stone pillar that lined the half circle. Hopping back, Goten came to stop right beside Yusuke. "We have to finish him now!"

Yusuke nodded and watched for a few seconds as the other man leaned into a position he had never seen before. Goten was crouched so that his hands were curved around an invisible ball floating a few inches to the right of the man's waist. Yusuke was well aware of the amount of energy the man was pouring in the space between his hands. However, he had to concentrate on his own attack. While the space between Goten's hands started to glow a blinding blue, Yusuke stood, feet apart with his right hand pointed in the shape of a gun while his left clutched his right wrist. Keiko was probably worried sick by now, and he had wasted enough time on that jerk. His pointed finger started to glow. This time he was going to end it!

"Spirit Gun Double!"

"Ka-me-ha-me-HA!"

Yusuke's two spirit gun blasts joined with Goten's attack and became a blinding spirit ball of energy. The attack smashed into the spot where Eros had landed and reduced the pillar to ashes. As the light died down, lava started to pour from the hole in the side of the volcano where the blast had pushed Eros into it. He was done.

With a grin, Yusuke turned to his new ally and gave his a thumbs up. "Nice attack."

Goten grinned back as he blew some stray hairs from his face. "You too. Where did you learn to use chi like that?"

Yusuke blinked. "Is that some sort of fancy spirit energy Koenma didn't tell me about?"

The other man blinked in confusion before opening his mouth to explain. Before he could, chains shot up from the ground, glowing red with the heat of the lava they had come from. While Yusuke tried to punch them away, Goten flew to avoid them. However, the chains kept growing from the ground. Finally, a loop managed to get a grip on Yusuke's left arm. He tried to pull away but the chain tightened its grip and pulled him over to the building where it tied in between two pillars so that he was in the shape of an X. Within seconds, Goten joined him and Eros stood before the two as a short man with big blue eyes. Most girls would probably find him cute but it only made Yusuke more angered that he had been beaten by the freak.

"Okay so you can change and become more powerful. Whoop-dee-do. Now let us go!" Yusuke shouted as he strained against the chains.

Eros shook his head as he changed back into the biker. "Now I remember what happened to those other demons and aliens. They **did** make it here alive but they didn't know when to quit."

"Is that some sort of threat?" Goten asked, although Yusuke noticed he didn't seem to be struggling. Instead he seemed to be raising his energy.

Eros shook his head again and started to walk away. "No. Just some information. It was such a shame. Their mates worked so hard to get here only to find a dead body as their reward. Hopefully your friends don't see the same thing. Of course that might happen anyways if they aren't fast enough. A normal human will only last twelve hours here before falling asleep and never waking up."

"What?"

Yusuke pulled at his chains again. "Listen nutcase! Leave Keiko out of this! If you want a fight, then let me go and I'll slaughter you!" He kept shouting even though Eros had disappeared from view, but slowly his energy drained. Goten was silent as he watched but he made no moves to try to calm Yusuke.

Minutes passed and as sounds of movement came from behind him, Yusuke suddenly had the feeling they weren't alone. His back stiffened as he waited for the attack that would surely cut into the flesh on his back. Instead a simple word was spoken.

"Yusuke?"

**Trapped in Fate **

**N**ever in a thousand years did Takahashi think that she would ever be kidnapped. Sure after her boss had been kidnapped by the people from Halloween Town, she did wonder if a repeat would ever happen. Although every time she pictured it, **he** was the one being kidnapped. Not her! And yet, Eros, or Cupid as he had introduced himself when he randomly left her alone in the weird temple like building, had chosen to kidnap her. Not Kaiba. Her! To honest, she still hadn't gotten over it. She was probably going to die wherever the heck she was, and if she ever made it home, her job was probably going to be long gone. There was no way that Kaiba would believe that she had not left of her own free will. As it was, he probably was already looking for another secretary. She let out a sigh as she sat down and looked at the floor. Another job down the drain with nothing to show for it. Why did fate hate her?

"Damn it."

Her head suddenly shot up as she stood to look around the surrounding area. From her place at the back of the building with many pillars blocking her view, she could make out two figures tied between the pillars at the front of the building. The voice sounded so familiar that the name popped out of her mouth before she could stop it. "Yusuke?"

The figure off to right stiffened before he said, "Oh crap."

The other figure seemed to be trying to look back to see what was making Yusuke worry but he didn't seem to be having much luck because he asked Yusuke, "What's wrong?"

Takahashi quickly got to her feet and walked out in front of the two so that she could see both of their faces. As she had suspected, one of them was the man she had met while she had been looking for her boss on Halloween night. The other one had introduced himself as Goten when he had arrived with the representative of Capsule Corps. "I believe I'm the problem. My name is Takahashi, Naomi."

Goten frowned for a few seconds before he said, "Wait a second, you're that secretary!"

Yusuke meanwhile was shaking his head. "Hang on. You know each other?"

Takahashi nodded. "He and his friend, Mister Briefs, came to my workplace for a meeting with my boss."

Yusuke frowned. "Right. Mr. Stick-up his ass…Hang on. Wasn't Briefs the name of the guy that little girl was looking for on Halloween?"

Goten turned his head to look at Yusuke. "Was her name Pan?"

Takahashi and Yusuke nodded. "Why you know her too?" Takahashi asked.

Goten nodded. "She's my niece."

Yusuke frowned. "Well this is some party. Looks like everyone who wasn't kidnapped last time is now except for Goten who apparently was mistaken for Pan." He paused to look at Goten's face. "Although I guess you could look like a girl from the back. Must be the long hair."

While the look on Goten's face was priceless, Takahashi couldn't help but wonder one thing. "Why are you guys in chains and covered in bruises?"

Yusuke rolled his eyes as he pulled at the chains. "Why do you think? We got into a fight and lost."

Goten nodded. "Eros was a lot stronger than we had thought."

Takahashi nodded as she inspected the chains. "What did you expect? In Greek and Roman mythology he was a god." She poked at the chains and quickly put her finger into her mouth with a yelp. "How can you guys not be burning to death? Those things are hot."

Yusuke shrugged as best he could. "Hell if I know. Maybe our winter coats keep us cool but…" he paused before focusing on something coming towards them from the volcano. "Takahashi, hide."

If she hadn't already went on an adventure with Yusuke, she would have disobeyed. However, as she saw Eros coming closer she quickly ducked behind the pillars and watched as Eros stood before the two males. He smiled at them and looked at Goten.

"I've decided to let you remain straight, saiyan. My old platonic brother love is wearing out so I might as well take this opportunity to replace it." Eros then turned his attention to something in his coat that he suddenly was wearing and removed a small glass sphere from it. He tossed it to the ground and said, "This will let you see your friends' progress in the trials. The human girl should be around here somewhere so she'll be able to tell you what is going on if you can't see." He turned and started to walk away before he paused.

"And by the way, you two," he said over his shoulder. "I would not recommend going super saiyan or transforming into your demon form. There is liquid lava in every link of the chain that is more than hot enough to melt right through your body. If you find a weak link, you could become free and lose your arm in the process." He smiled over his shoulder as he faded. "So just have fun and wait. Your friends will be here by midnight. Or not. Not that it will matter by that point for one of you." He didn't laugh but somehow that made it even scarier.

Once Eros had vanished one thing was clear in Takahashi's mind, they had to get out of there. Preferably before their friends even figured out they were missing.


	6. The Trials

**The First Trial – Gift of the Mother **

**T**he car, which Trunks had taken out of a capsule, was silent as they drove in the direction Keiko's pendant pointed. Because it was so silent Keiko focused on her necklace that seemed to be pointing the way to the 'hearts' as she decided to call them. Kaiba had originally wanted to take his car but Trunks convinced him that the capsule car would be better because they could park, walk a ways, and not have to walk back to the car. While Trunks had the most experience with radar technology, he could only see that the necklace was glowing. Kaiba also couldn't tell where the glow was located on the jewel in the center of the pendant so it was up to Keiko to guide them. She couldn't wait until it was the males' turn to try. The glow kept to the far edge of the gem making it hard to tell Trunks where to drive.

Eventually the glow moved so that it was towards the middle of the jewel. When she told Trunks he pulled over and they got out. After the car vanished into a puff of smoke Keiko turned her attention towards the building in front of her. The white brick of the building seemed to shine and glow as they walked towards the front door.

"Isn't this the museum? Why would a valentine's dragon ball be here?" Trunks asked as he looked through the windows that framed the doors.

Kaiba ignored the front doors and started to walk along the front of the building. "We'll find out once we're inside."

Keiko frowned. "But how are we going to get in? It's closed."

"Keep up," Kaiba replied as he disappeared around the corner. When Keiko and Trunks followed they found him at a door and typing in a code on the keypad. A small ring sounded and Kaiba opened the door. "The guards shouldn't have arrived yet so we'll have a bit of time to look around."

Trunks frowned as he followed Kaiba through the door. "And how would you know that?"

"I've been dragged to this museum after hours more times than I would care to remember. Now hurry up."

Keiko was the last to enter, but in the darkness of the museum, the glowing of her necklace became clearer. While the two males branched out to look around for the objects Trunks had dreamt about, Keiko followed the glow. For a few steps she followed Kaiba who had drifted towards the Ancient Egypt section. When they neared the display case that had once held the _pert kertu_ or the prayer for the dead, Kaiba turned away and disappeared down another hallway. However, Keiko continued towards the case and noticed that the tablet had been replaced with some scrolls from the Dead Sea. She let out a small sigh wondering what it had looked like.

Once the museum had an exhibit for the gladiators and she had dragged Yusuke to it in an attempt to get him interested in school. It hadn't worked but Yusuke did stay by her side the whole time they were in the museum because he has felt bad about her being attacked by a homicidal mob. However, he had complained the whole time. The lump of in her throat at the memory made it hard for her to swallow as she wondered where he was now. Yusuke was the toughest fighter in all of Human World. Nothing could stop him from coming home… except for permanent death.

She shook hear head to clear the thoughts as her eyes refocused on her necklace, which guided her out of the Ancient Egypt exhibit.

Soon she found herself in the museum's special presentation for Valentine's Day. It went into the history of each of the symbols such as the heart, cupid, and even the history of the saint who the day was named after. At the history of Cupid, Keiko paused and read some of the material.

"The Romans were greatly influenced by the Greeks and even took some of their gods and renamed them. Eros, the Greek god of Desire, was one of these. In Roman mythology he was called Cupid and his mother was Venus (Aphrodite). He was often seen as a troublemaker with a love of making odd couples," she muttered aloud as she glanced up at one of the statues. Its eyes seemed to watch her and she quickly moved on.

Soon another statue caught her eye. It was of a man with wings leaning over a woman who was laying half in his arms and half on the ground. Although she knew she had to find the heart, Keiko paused to read the inscription. "One of the most common legends involving Cupid was the story of the Trials of Psyche," she muttered as she strained to read by using the glow of her necklace. "In the story Cupid fell in love with a mortal woman named Psyche and took her as his wife. However she could not look at him. If she did, he would leave her forever. One day her jealous sisters tricked her into looking upon her beloved. Cupid was forced to leave his love but Psyche searched for him and completed tasks created for her by Venus until she finally was reunited with her love."

Keiko frowned when she had finished reading and turned her focus back to her necklace to try to find the heart. She continued walking down the hallway until she came before display and stopped dead. On a stand surrounded by flowers and baring the title of "Aphrodite's Wedding Gift" was the heart. It was just as Trunks had described it. A pink sphere with two red hearts buried in the glass.

Without a second thought, she quickly went and found the boys. For a second they stared then Trunks started to reach for it but Keiko grabbed his arm. "We can't take it! That's illegal," she said.

"The museum won't even know. Besides I've done this tons of times with the dragon balls."

Keiko frowned. "But…"

Kaiba glared at her and quickly grabbed the ball before tossing it to Trunks. "We need this and they don't. It's as simple as that so if you can't handle it, you'd better go home."

Before Keiko could reply the museum started to shake. "What's going on!" Trunks asked as he struggled to keep his footing.

"You're the expert in searching for mythical objects. You tell us!" Kaiba shouted as he held onto a wall for support.

Keiko, who had wisely decided to sit on the floor and wait out the shaking, was silent until the shaking stopped. Then she got to her feet and looked around. Her eyes returned to the display and she couldn't help but scream. The flowers that had been surrounding the stand had turned into snakes and they quickly slithered out of their vases and surrounded the group. Standing back to back, Kaiba glanced at Trunks out of the corner of his eyes. "What now, genius?"

"This." Trunks hands started to glow and he pointed his outstretched palm at the snakes.

However, as Trunks focused on facing the snakes, Keiko paused. The snakes just seemed to be surrounding them. Waiting for them to make a move. And their hissing… it didn't really sound like hissing. Hesitantly, she closed her eyes and focused. Tiny voices muttered a chant over and over again and her eyes popped open. Again, she reached for Trunks' arm but before he or Kaiba could ask what she was doing she said, "Close your eyes and listen!"

She watched as Trunks fought the desire just to blast the snakes but finally he closed his eyes. To her left, Kaiba already had his eyes closed. Trusting that the snakes would not attack, she closed her eyes again and listened.

The tiny voices grew louder now that all three of them were silent, and Keiko could make out the words of their chant.

"If you break me," the snakes said, "I do not stop working. If you touch me, I may be snared. If you lose me, nothing will matter. The Aphrodite and Eros taunt me but I still persevere. Because I am." They repeated themselves three times before they fell silent and the humans opened their eyes again.

"It sounds like a riddle," Keiko muttered.

"In ancient times, they believed in a monster called the sphinx," Trunks muttered to himself. "This must be part of the quest and instead of a sphinx we got snakes." Keiko saw him glance at a snake whose mouth was open showing fangs. "Poisonous ones."

Kaiba growled. "So what's the answer?"

Trunks shrugged. "I haven't heard this one."

Keiko nodded. "I've heard the first part and the answer was the human heart, but…" Her sentence trailed into nothing as the snakes hissed in laughter. She took a step back. "What's going on?"

"I think we just guess wrong."

Kaiba reached into his pocket and pulled out a small hand gun. "You think?"

The snakes started to glow a burning white and the three shielded their eyes despite the danger. When the light had died, the snakes were gone and alarms were going off. Without speaking, the three quickly raced for the nearest entrance. Once there, Trunks kicked down the door since it had been blocked with metal sheeting to prevent robbers from escaping. He quickly pulled out the car capsule and they piled in. Within seconds, they were driving away from the museum as if nothing had happened.

"Well that was fun," Trunks said as he glanced at his rear-view mirror. "Hopefully the next ball won't be in some high tech weapon vault, because I don't really think we have time to deal with the army on top of some twisted gods. Good thing Keiko had heard the riddle before."

Keiko nodded and slouched into the back seat. "I wonder if all of them will have riddles to solve," she muttered to herself before sitting up straight. "Trunks, can I see the ball?"

He nodded and took one hand from the steering wheel to reach into his pocket. However, after a few seconds, Trunks' back went stiff and Kaiba glance at him.

"You lost it?"

Trunks shook his head and took a second to glare at Kaiba before looking back at the road. "I didn't lose it! It was in my coat pocket when the snakes showed up."

"So you're saying a snake slithered into your pocket and took it?"

Again, Trunks shook his head as he signalled to pull over. "No. It was in my pocket!" Once the car had stopped he took off his coat and turned the pockets inside out. What he found was his heart pendant, which he put around his neck so that he wouldn't lose it, and a necklace made of every form of precious stones strung together with a gold chain.

Kaiba glared at him. "Where did that come from?"

"I didn't steal it if that's what you mean! I'm the owner of one of the richest companies in the world. Why would I steal something from a museum?"

Keiko stood up and leaned between the two front seats so that she could look at the necklace. In the middle of each stone was the shape of a small heart. She frowned before turning to Trunks. "What did I say when I was in the trance?"

He frowned as he tried to remember. "Basically we had to find three gifts from three gods. One was a gift from the mother, the next—"

Keiko cut him off before he could continue. "Wasn't Aphrodite Eros' mother?"

Both males nodded while Kaiba asked, "Your point?"

Keiko took the necklace from Trunks and turned it over in her hands. "Maybe the balls are just a case for the treasures inside."

"You mean that they transform into the gifts from the gods after we complete some sort of challenge?"

She nodded as she sat down with the necklace in hand. "Or the balls are just a clue to help us find the right treasure."

Trunks nodded while Kaiba glanced out the window. "Makes about as much sense anything else today," he muttered, which caused Trunks to turn to grin at him.

"Well at least we know what to do now."

Keiko nodded as she buckled up and pointed at the pendant around Trunks' neck that had started to glow. "And it looks like it's your turn to lead."

Trunks nodded, took a glance at the pendant before turning into traffic. One down, two to go, Keiko thought as she watched the other cars drive by. And soon she'd be with Yusuke again.

**The Second Trial – Sword of the Fighter **

**I**t was pitch-black when the team arrived at Mushiyori City but Trunks had no trouble moving through the traffic to follow the glow from his pendant. However, he was grateful when he was able to park the car in front of a cave. The two hour car ride had caused all his muscles to stiffen up so he paused to stretch before looking around. The area was void of grass and a fence had been put up at the mouth of the cave. However, it did not look well cared for, as if even the owners of the land who had bothered up put up the no trespassing sign never came to this place.

Since the area was so dark and the car's headlights were the only source of light, he left the car out of its capsule and locked it. It was only after that when he looked at his pendant and tried to figure out where to go. While he did that, Keiko and Kaiba looked around. Echoes seemed to be coming from the mouth of the cave but Trunks ignored them as he turned in a circle, trying to get his bearings.

"Yusuke told me about this place," Keiko was saying as she looked around, pulling her coat tighter around herself to block the wind that was whispering around them.

Kaiba nodded. "Have you ever been inside the cave?"

She shook her head. "No. But if Kurama's plants are still alive we'll be able to find our way without too much trouble."

"That's assuming we're even going into the cave. What's taking so long, Briefs?"

Trunks paused in his circle turning but didn't look up. "The signal seems confused. The pendant seems to think that the ball is right under us." He turned once more before he sighed and looked up. "I guess we'll have to go into the cave and work our way from there."

Kaiba glanced at the cave. "Great. Any idea how we'll avoid getting lost?"

Trunks nodded as he opened the trunk of his car and pulled out some rope. "Way ahead of you."

"But how will we see?" Keiko asked.

Kaiba smirked in her direction. "Afraid of the dark?"

She shook her head. "No but Yusuke said that one of their enemies was left in the cave and I would rather not run into him."

Trunks held up his hand and a small glowing orb hovered a few inches from his palm. "Will this do?"

Keiko nodded and started to follow the men towards the cave when Kaiba put a hand out in front of her and Trunks paused to watch the two battle it out. Seeing the two of them fight brought back memories of being trapped in Halloween Town but at the same time it was comforting. Maybe because it reminded him of his parents?

Kaiba still caught him a bit off guard though when he told Keiko to, "Wait by the car."

Keiko's reply was to become angry and frown. "Why? Is it because I'm a girl?" she asked.

Kaiba shook his head. "No it's because you are weak and would just get in the way."

Casually, Trunks looked on his watch. He frowned and tapped the glass although he knew it would do nothing. The hands on his watch continued to spin almost as if they were a compass and not a device used to measure time. Reasoning that breaking up the fight to ask the others their thoughts would help everyone, he spoke up. "Do you guys have the time?"

Kaiba paused in mid-retort to glance at his watch. Judging by the look on his face, he was just as stumped as Trunks. It appeared that Keiko wasn't wearing a watch though because she merely waited for Kaiba to reply to Trunks.

When nothing was said, she asked, "What's wrong?"

Trunks pulled back the sleeve of his coat to show her his watch. "This is. Either both Kaiba's and my watches broke at the same time in the same way, or time isn't moving normally."

"Then how will we know when twelve hours have passed?"

Kaiba shrugged. "We won't."

Keiko frowned but did not speak and Trunks nodded as he remembered that on the way over to the cave Keiko had mentioned similarities to what Psyche had to go through and what they were doing now. "So we'd better get going before this becomes irreversible." He saw Kaiba start to open his mouth and quickly said, "And while I agree that it probably will be dangerous inside, Keiko is the only one who knows anything about this place."

"From hearsay," Kaiba countered.

"That's still better than nothing."

Kaiba paused before turning and walking towards the cave. "Fine. But don't complain to me when you wish we left her up here."

Trunks sighed again but walked with Keiko towards the mouth of the cave. Before entering, he tied the rope to a nearby rock, tested it to be sure it would stay. Then he created a small ball of chi, which hovered a few inches above his open palm and entered the cave.

The remains of a plant he had never seen before littered the floor but they seemed to have grown in a straight line before they died. However, Trunks couldn't let himself wonder how that happened and instead focused on the pendant's light. The tunnel split off into forks every few feet, but Trunks made sure to follow the path closest to the direction the pendant was glowing. However, with every step they took, the echoes changed and words became clearer. At one point Trunks stopped to try to figure out what was being said but he most he understood was "Damn you fox! Why won't you die!"

Finally, to break the 'silence' more than anything, he asked Keiko, "What's that noise we keep hearing?"

Her face was pale in the light from his ball of chi but her eyes were wide in fear. "I think it's Elder Toguro."

Kaiba, who had been studying the walls they passed, turned to look at Keiko as well. "Who's he?"

"A monster," Keiko replied. "But Yusuke was sure that he wouldn't be able to even move."

Trunk frowned. "If he did get free, what's the worst that can happen?"

Keiko shuttered. "He'll kill everyone, probably starting with Kurama and Kuwabara since they were the ones who beat him."

"Those friends of yours?" Kaiba asked.

She nodded and Trunks glanced around the area that was lit by his chi. "Well what are his weaknesses?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Yusuke said that Kurama had to trap Elder Toguro with some sort of plant because he couldn't kill him."

"Why not?"

"Because he can regenerate from even the smallest cell."

A drop of sweat ran down Trunks' face when he heard that. When he was small, he had heard about how his future self had been killed by an enemy with that same power. Was that going to happen now? Although he was stronger than his future self had been at the time, the idea of an enemy that he couldn't kill unsettled him. The enemy could just keep getting up and attacking while Trunks could only handle so much before he died. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and focused on the pendant again. "It can't be much farther."

His companions nodded, and they suddenly found themselves in a huge room with an underground lake. Trunks dropped the rope and let his chi ball vanish because the cavern was lit with a single electrical light in the ceiling. As three took a moment to look around, Trunks noticed an odd plant. Despite the warning bells in his head, Trunks took a few steps closer to investigate. The branches wrapped around a tall body that's top of the head had been chopped off so that only the bottom of the jaw remained. However, growing from that stump was another head of a pale, greasy haired man. 'He must have been the one making the shouts,' Trunks thought as he studied the man. 'Although he seems quiet now.' Aloud he muttered, "How could someone with so little power be so dangerous?"

"Found it!" Keiko said as she stood from her kneeling position at the lake's shore. "We'd better go now."

Trunks nodded but he couldn't help but look around. "Yeah but where's the trial? I mean the last time snakes appeared so where's the Greek-based danger?"

Kaiba shrugged he waited by the entrance where Keiko soon joined him. "Maybe this one's free."

Trunks nodded as he started to walk towards the two at the cave's entrance, but the look on Keiko's face caused him to pause. "You okay Keiko?"

She shook her head. "Elder Toguro isn't in the tree anymore."

Kaiba and Trunks quickly turned around and saw that she was right. "But he was there a second ago," Trunks started to say when white hot pain stabbed through his shoulders. A cruel cackle came from behind him and when he turned he saw blood on Elder Toguro's hands. But he was on the other side of the room so how had he managed to stab him in the back? Was he that fast?

Elder Toguro took his time licking Trunks' blood off his fingers. "So another group of fighters. The fox must have realized that his precious tree wasn't going to last much longer." The small man started to laugh. "I've give you five minutes to hide in the cave before I find you."

Although both shoulders were killing him, Trunks refused to turn and run. Instead he looked at Keiko out of the corner of his eye. "Think Keiko. Are you sure there isn't a way to beat him?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. I only saw him fight once and that was before he became the way he is now."

Elder Toguro laughed again as his fingers grew long and a second head grew from their first. "It's useless to try to plan a counterattack. I'm invincible. Not only can I manipulate my body at will but I can regenerate."

Trunks gritted his teeth. "I've met monsters like you before and I've never died at their hands." Before Toguro could move, Trunks lunged. "And I won't start now!"

He paused just short of punching the freak in the face. Instead he blasted him with all the chi he had, making sure to destroy any and all cells. The ashes floated to the floor as Trunks took many steps back and waited. "That was too easy," he muttered as he looked at the remains. It was then that he noticed the cracks in the rock floor.

A sudden scream caused him to spin around and look to where Kaiba and Keiko had been standing. Now only Keiko was standing and Kaiba was down on one knee clutching at his stomach where blood was flowing over his hand. Sticking up from the ground were a five poles that looked like fingers. However, they quickly disappeared underground. With little choice, Trunks jumped into the air and started firing chi blasts at random, trying to force the monster out of hiding.

His plan worked. Too well. Toguro erupted from the ground but not behind Trunks like he had expected. Instead Toguro jumped out in front of him and his fingers became like knives as they cut through the flesh of Trunk's arms that he had thrown in front of himself to protect his front. Before Toguro could even blink, Trunks counterattacked by punching him in the jaw. While Toguro went flying into the walls of the cavern, Trunks flew back so that he was standing between Toguro and the normal humans. "Get back to the car. I'll buy you some time."

Keiko helped Kaiba to his feet. "How long should we wait before we leave?"

Trunks leaned into a defensive position. "Don't wait. I'll catch up. Just get out of here."

"But…"

Toguro was getting up and was laughing harder than ever. There wasn't even a scratch on him and the dislocated jaw that Trunks' punch had caused popped back into place. Meanwhile, Trunks felt his power welling up inside of him as the desire to turn super saiyan and finish the fight quickly grew in him. Nothing would be gained but more damage by waiting this out. Plus there was no guarantee that whoever was behind the trials would give their friends back without a fight. If he wasted all of his chi here, he'd be useless later. However, he had no idea if the cave could take the level of chi that he would put out as super saiyan.

Toguro's fingers started to become long and pointed again. Trunks swallowed as his hands started to glow again.

"Just go. I'll be fine." He smiled at them over his shoulder. "I've fought aliens way tougher than him when I was just a baby." Of course it was a future version of him, but they didn't need to know that.

"You should really tell the truth, Trunks."

All of them froze as Toguro spoke. He watched each of their faces as he said, "Tell them that it the worse you've ever faced was a genie and you died. Or what about Cell who killed your future self?" Toguro started laughing again. "You're out of your league, boy. I'm not an alien. I'm a demon and everyone knows demons are far worse. Did I forget to mention that I can read minds?"

Trunks looked over his shoulder and shouted at Keiko to get moving. Once she had disappeared into the tunnel he turned his attention to Toguro. Sweat ran down the side of his face as he told himself that Toguro was just messing with his head. That he couldn't really read minds. But how else could he have known about his death when he was fighting Buu as a child or the facts about Future Trunks? "None… None of that matters!" Trunks shouted as he lunged at Toguro again.

This time Toguro dodged to the side and changed his hand into a hammer that crashed into his side and forced him to the ground. The cracking in his rib cage told him he had at least three crack, if not broken, bones. Toguro wasn't done with him though. Long, rope-like fingers tied themselves around Trunks' wrists and ankles, causing to rise into the air. Guessing at what Toguro had in mind, Trunks tried to break their grip with his inhuman strength. However, Toguro didn't even winch and Trunks found himself being held under the water in the lake. He tried to move but the fingers only held him tighter and forced him deeper. His breath was quickly running out because of his thrashing. However, he had one last idea. Fighting against the grip, he pulled his hands together in front of him so that the fingers were in front of his palms. Above him on dry land, he could hear Toguro laughing.

"Foolish boy," Toguro crackled. "You can't win. I'm immortal!"

Trunk's reply was a chi blast

As it ripped through the fingers of the monster, Trunks' feet hit bottom. Stretching his muscles, he rocketed out of the water and onto dry land where he sucked in lungful after lungful of air. Unfortunately, he had to do this while dodging Toguro's many other attacks. Trunks wasn't sure if it was the monster's mind reading abilities that allowed him to know where Trunks would dodge to or if it was just able to move as fast as him. However, as the blood poured from many cuts to his limbs, Trunks was started to worry. Hand to hand was too dangerous since the monster could probably match his speed and it would be able to capture him with the fingers again. So Trunks' only option was using chi blasts.

However, Toguro was able to dodge each and every one of Trunks' attacks. After he dodged Trunks' attempt to hit the freak's head, he nailed Trunks in the stomach with his fingers. As Trunks pulled back with a growl of pain, the freak grinned and licked its lips. "Yes," Toguro said. "Feel the fear. It's delicious isn't it?"

Sweat rolled down Trunk's face and mixed with his blood. Toguro was worse than anything they had ever seen before, Trunks thought as the demon continued to attack and draw blood. Even Broly couldn't read minds or attack at a distance with such precision. However. Trunks started to power up again. He couldn't let it end this way. Without a second's thought, he started firing chi blasts rapidly at the monster. Even if Toguro could read minds, there was no way he'd be fast enough to dodge all of Trunks' attacks. If he could disable him, they might be able to escape and figure out a plan. Maybe he could cause a cave-in that would keep the monster busy until he could find Goten and use fusion. But would it be enough? It hadn't worked on Buu and Buu couldn't read minds.

For a moment, Trunks paused in his blasting to look at the damage. He had to keep in mind that his chi was limited.

"Tricky boy but not good enough," Toguro said with another laugh as the dust cleared revealing a man full of holes. However, he didn't stay that way for long. Before Trunks' eyes new muscle grew in and before he could move, Toguro's hands turned into a drill and cut into Trunks' right shoulder forcing him into the wall of the cave. As he fell to the ground, Trunks bit his lip in an attempt to block out the pain. Was there no way to beat this monster?

Toguro continued to laugh. "You can take a beating, boy. Too bad you can't dish one out."

All his muscles screamed in protest as Trunks rose to his feet. However, his chi continued to lash out in a matter that had made his race such a feared one. "Well I guess I don't have much of a choice," Trunks muttered as his purple hair had started to fly upwards in a wind that had suddenly appeared. "Hopefully the cave can take it."

Toguro started laughing again. "So you're finally desperate enough to go Super Saiyan. It won't help you but I'll let you try."

As his hair turned blonde and his eyes turned teal, Trunks couldn't help but smile as the power rushed through his veins. "Thanks. I'll try not to make this too long then." With a shout, Trunks flew into a fury of kicks and punches. If he could disable him enough, a chi blast might be able to finish him off. Toguro must have been reading his mind because he just took punch after punch with a sick grin on his face. However, the uppercut that sent the freak into the air must have caught the man off guard because his eyes were wide. Sensing his chance, Trunks stretched out his arms at his sides and started to collect his energy. This time, the monster was going to die!

Toguro's eyes were wide as he watched. "You'll bring the whole cave in!"

Trunks' hands started to glow brighter than ever and he moved them so that they were in front of him and pointed at Toguro. "I'll do whatever it takes to bring you down!"

"Your friends…" The monster trailed off, no doubt reading Trunks' mind. Keiko and Kaiba were out of the cave so if it collapsed, he would be the only one trapped. If he finished the trial, then they would have the next treasure and could finish the tests.

"It's over, Toguro!" Trunks shouted as he let his power flow out of his hands and crash into the monster, forcing him to the ground and slowly drilling into the earth. Toguro's screamed could be heard up until the last second, when the light from Trunks' blast faded. However, the cave remained standing and Trunks remained powered up. His eyes narrowed and searching for any signs of an attack. There was no sign of the monster but just in case, he scanned the area for any signs of energy as he landed on the ground. The only people he sensed was Keiko and Kaiba who had made it back to the car.

And yet he kept his guard up. Was it over? Or could Toguro hide his energy too?

The sound of something rolling down the tunnels caused him to look behind him as the ball they had been searching for rolled into the area. It bumped into his foot before it glowed and changed shape. It became flatter and lengthened. The colour changed so that it was no longer pink but black. Finally it stopped changing and Trunks picked it up. The ball had turned into a black sword with bat wings as the guard. Inscribed on the blade was the word, "Hades."

It was over and Goten was going to flip out when he found out about the battle Trunks had fought without him.

When he arrived at the car, Keiko had already finished bandaging Kaiba up. They both turned to look at him as he walked out of the cave. Keiko's eyes were wide and she quickly started to gather supplies from the first aid kit. Kaiba, however, merely watched as Trunks held up the sword.

Although he was covered in blood and looked like death, Trunks smiled. "Two down. One to go," he said.

**The Third Trial – Lance of the One of the Sea **

**N**ever again would he allow himself to get roped into these situations, Kaiba decided as he told Trunks to take the perimeter. Yugi and his cheerleaders were bad enough but he drew the line at freaks who messed with his staff. Next time, the freak could keep her. However, he would have to survive through this time first.

Kaiba winced in pain as Trunks hit a bump but hid it by looking down at his locket. Only one more gift to go before the stupid quest would be finished, he told himself. Soon he'd be able to go home and pretend that the whole adventure had never happened. But the anger still grew in him.

Why was **he** here? If the god Cupid was behind these trials (as it appeared he was judging by the occurrences that kept happening) then why was he here and not Takahashi's ex-boyfriend? Why was he **letting** himself be dragged all over the place on some whim from a mythical being? A mythical being that he would have never believed existed if not for his unwanted exploits with Yugi and the fact that a freak of nature stabbed him in the stomach with its fingers from underground. Why was he being dragged into this? She was just someone working under him. It wasn't as if he was responsible for her. The only way it affected him was that he would be sending the next month interviewing idiots before he found someone to take her place. So why was he sitting in a car, wincing in pain every time Trunks hit a bump, looking down at a locket trying to find a stupid ball?

The car pulled to a stop as it neared the end of a pier.

Kaiba had barely noticed their arrival at the harbour due to his thoughts and once again they got out of the car to look around. As the car disappeared into a puff of smoke, he looked around and slowly took in the salty smell of the ocean before him. The sky was so black now that you couldn't even tell where the ocean ended and the sky started. It was as it the world stopped at the end of the pier and if you stepped off, you'd tumble through space until you ran out of air. Keiko and Trunks soon joined him and he took a small glance at them.

Keiko had come out of their last trial unharmed and virtually unshaken except for some rocks that had nearly hit her as she helped him get out of the cave. Around her neck was the necklace that they had gotten from the museum and the pendant Cupid had left. In fact, if Kaiba didn't know better and if he ignored the sight of his blood on her clothing, he'd had thought she was going on a date.

Trunks, however, looked like he had been to Hell and back. Blood covered his arms from varying degree of cuts and stained the front of his clothes that he had changed at some point between the ending of their meeting and his meeting with Keiko. From the way the man had refused Keiko's medical care, Kaiba guessed that the other man might have some sore ribs. Possibly broken if the freak had been strong enough. However, Trunks was alert and was studying the area around them with the sword he had gotten strapped to his back in a sheath he had found in the back of his car. Off hand, Kaiba wondered if the man even knew how to use the weapon on his back. On hand, he wondered why Trunks wasn't suffering from lack of blood since he seemed to be wearing at least ¾ of his blood on his clothing.

Keiko's voice pulled him from his thoughts when she asked, "How much farther to the ball, Kaiba?"

He glanced at the absurd object in his hand. The glow wasn't even close to being at the center of the jewel. "Far enough that we'll need a boat and a submarine since I doubt it will just be floating on the surface waiting for us." He glanced at the other man. "I don't suppose you have a sub in one of those capsules."

Trunks shook his head. "No." However, a thoughtful frown appeared on his face after he answered and he added, "But I might have something that could work."

As Trunks pulled out his case of capsules, Kaiba couldn't help but wonder why the other man would bother getting a partnership with another company and share the profits instead of setting up connections alone and earning a larger profit. When he had asked during the meeting, the other man had been vague and since the deal was a good one, Kaiba didn't question him further. Now, he was beginning to wonder.

While Kaiba had been thinking, Trunks had successfully turned all his pockets inside out looking for the capsule that had apparently fallen from his case. As the other man uncapsulized his car and searched through it, Kaiba found himself wondering how the young man had managed to keep his high position in his company. Of course, it could have been that lack of blood making him forgetful.

Finally, with the help of Keiko, Trunks found what he was looking for under the back seats. In another poof of smoke, a weird, mechanical, octopus-looking machine stood before them. After seeing Trunks circle the machine muttering to himself and dents on vehicle, Kaiba had a very bad feeling.

"Are you sure this piece of junk was even designed for this?" he asked after Trunks had finished his survey.

The other man nodded. "When Pan, Goku, and I lived in it for a year it had to survive a lot worse than a little oceanic pressure. The only problem we might have would be with the propulsion system."

Kaiba frowned. "And you expect me to get in after hearing you say that?"

Trunks frowned as he pushed a button for the door to open. "It's completely safe."

The noises of the metal struggling to obey the pre-programmed command made Kaiba feel so much safer as he carefully stepped into the ship after Keiko and Trunks. While Keiko talked to Trunks about how he had lived in the craft for a year, Kaiba took a critical look at the interior. If there was any suggestions of trouble, he was getting out and finding a boat in on of the many warehouses. Or he could just go get his jet.

However, unlike the outside, the inside of the ship seemed perfectly safe. There were no dents. The lights all came on without a problem, and there were no sounds of something leaking or sparking. If Kaiba was in a better mood, he'd probably ask Trunks who had designed the craft and about some of the technology behind it. But Kaiba wasn't in a good mood so he followed the other two into the control room of the ship. Three chairs were set out so that they were an arrow pointing at the main window. As Trunks seated himself into the front seat where the controls where and started pushing buttons, Kaiba glanced at the steering wheel. It was like one for a car, except this one had noticeable dents in it. It was almost as if someone had gripped the metal too hard with superhuman strength.

Unbidden, his mind returned to his experience in Halloween Town where Trunks had pulled at the chains when the freaks had placed them in electrical chairs. At the time, Kaiba had thought it was almost as if Trunks had been testing the chains. Now Kaiba wondered if Trunks could have broken the chains and if he had also dented the steering wheel. Thinking back to the past few hours, Kaiba wondered just what the other CEO was capable of. He had taken on a demon that was nothing like what Kaiba had seen while being dragged into trouble with the Geek Squad. And the other man had mentioned aliens and he had shot something like a laser from his hands.

As Kaiba slipped into his chair and buckled up, he made a mental note to investigate this Trunks Briefs and find out what he could. It just wasn't normal. Not that he could call anything that was happening normal. Even the girl, Keiko, couldn't be taken at face value. She knew about that monster back in the cave and barely even batted an eyelash when she was helping patch him up. Almost as if she was used to the blood and battle.

Trunks had finished pushing whatever buttons he needed and turned back to look at Keiko and Kaiba. "Ready?" he asked.

Keiko nodded and Kaiba started to before he realized something important. "Do you have any deep-space suits that we can wear to search for the ball?"

Trunks nodded as he buckled up. "Below. I'll show you when we need them." Before anyone could say anything, Trunks hit one last button and they were in the water. As Trunks had promised, the inside of the ship remained dry and the jets were working. For the moment.

After the first few moments when Trunks seemed to be relearning how to drive the ship, Kaiba and Keiko unbuckled themselves. The view from the front window was murky due to the lack of light from above and the exterior lights Trunks had turned on did little to change it. By glancing at his locket every few moments, Kaiba guided them closer to the ball and farther out to sea.

In between him telling Trunks where to go, the other man spoke to Keiko, showing her how to drive the ship. Keiko didn't seem to understand why she was being taught, but she listened and Kaiba was careful to listen as well. To save power, Trunks had turned off the interior lights but from the slight glow from the exterior ones, Kaiba could see that the other man was becoming increasingly pale. Although Trunks was trying not to show it, the effects of his battle with the freak seemed to be kicking in. For this reason, Kaiba kept quiet except to give directions. If Trunks did collapse, their best course of action would be to have Keiko drive. The logic behind that being if Kaiba found the ball and needed a quick escape, they wouldn't waste time by having him swim to the ship, get in, and run to the front seat.

Time passed and Trunks started to rub at his eyes as if he was having trouble focusing. It felt like hours had passed since they had entered the water but when Kaiba looked at his watch out of habit, he was reminded that time wasn't moving normally. Finally, Trunks looked ready to pass out and Kaiba had enough.

Trunks had unbuckled himself at some point during the trip, so Kaiba just pulled the other man out of the chair. "Where are the suits?" he asked as he helped Trunks stand by taking the other man's arm and placing it over his shoulder.

Trunks blinked before he pointed to the room behind the control room. "On the upper level."

Keiko had started to raise herself from her seat but Kaiba glanced at her before saying, "Just keep driving in the direction he was headed. We'll be right back."

He didn't look back as he helped Trunks out into the other room, but he heard Keiko sit down again. Although the other rooms were dark, there was enough light for Kaiba to walk while half-carrying Trunks and avoid bumping into anything. In the middle of the room was a pole, which Trunks grabbed onto and turned. A section of the floor underneath them raised them until they were in a domed section of the ship. Since the dome was all glass, the light from outside was enough to allow Kaiba to make out two mattresses on the floor and a small hammock hanging from the ceiling. With Trunks guiding him, Kaiba found a small closet containing the suits as Trunks had promised.

Unfortunately, only one of the suits was adult sized. The other two were child sized and unusable by any one in the current group. Thankfully, none of them had holes and all had helmets. However, it would be safer for everyone to have a suit. That way if the ship was destroyed or started leaking, everyone would be safe. Turning around to ask Trunks if these were the only suits, he found the young man fast asleep and sprawled out on one of the mattresses. Already the other man's skin had more colour in it and he seemed to be perfectly fine.

Leaving the other man to sleep, he went down to guide Keiko. After what felt like five hours, Trunks reappeared no longer blood covered and with a change of clothes on. Instead of his winter coat and a black sweater, he was wearing a black muscle shirt and blue pants. The wound on his shoulder was still an angry red though.

"Feeling better?" Keiko asked as she moved so that he could take her place in the driver's seat.

Trunks nodded as he sat down. "Yeah. It helps that I never removed my emergency set of clothes from the ship."

Kaiba frowned as he glanced at the other man. "I believe she was referring to your surprising return of health. Most humans couldn't bounce back from loss of blood so quickly."

Trunks avoided Kaiba's eye as he looked out the window and turned the wheel slightly to avoid a group of fish. "Must be lucky," he said.

"Most humans can't fire lasers from their hands or see something moving at the speed of light either," Kaiba continued.

Trunks glanced at Kaiba. "And I suppose you are wondering why I didn't try anything like that back in Halloween Town?"

"I'm wondering how you are able to do it."

"I'm half saiyan and even if I wasn't, with proper training anyone can use their chi to do a small sample of what I can do. My family's friends can all do what I can to some degree and we've all saved the world enough times to prove it."

Kaiba frowned but before he could ask any more questions, Keiko spoke up. "You mentioned aliens before when I asked you about demons."

Trunks nodded. "There are many planets out in space that are like Earth with aliens. The saiyans were just one type."

Kaiba narrowed his eyes at the other man. "So you're half alien."

Trunks nodded but turned his attention to Keiko. "Since we're talking about all our weird friends, what can you tell us about demons?"

She shrugged as she sat down in her chair. "Well there are three worlds. Spirit World, which is where the dead go. Human World, which is where we live. And Demon World, which is where the demons live. These demons vary in power and sometimes slip into Human World and sometimes cause trouble. To keep these demons in line, Spirit World employs a spirit detective to fight them. That's what Yusuke was until they fired him because he was part demon."

Kaiba scoffed. "So you're expecting me to believe that not only are demons real but aliens are too and no one in the general public knows this?"

Trunks and Keiko nodded. However, Keiko was the first to explain. "Normal humans can't see demons or the paranormal so that's how demons get away with so much."

Meanwhile, Trunks stretched in his chair before adding, "And we've used the Dragon Balls to bring back humanity so many times that after six months or so the general public doesn't even notice the gap in their memories from the time they died to the time they were revived." He paused to turn the ship's steering wheel slightly so that the ship could avoid hitting an underwater hill. "But you must have had your share of weird."

Kaiba glanced at his locket to be sure they were going the right way before replying, "And what would give you that idea?"

Trunks hit a button on the control panel before turning his chair to face Kaiba. "First, I doubt a normal person would have been kidnapped by the people in Halloween Town."

"We already established that they were insane."

Trunks shook his head. "Perhaps, but they went for us out of the millions of people of all ages who were wearing similar costumes."

Keiko frowned. "So you think that they went after us because we were involved with the paranormal?"

Trunks nodded. "It's like you said. Normal people can't see the supernatural and aren't even aware. So if the citizens of Halloween took a normal person, they probably would have died on the way or not remembered it at all. In fact, they probably didn't even notice the normal people."

Kaiba frowned as he sat down in his chair because he was getting tired of standing. "So you assume that just because I wasn't as pathetic as to forget that I had been kidnapped, I've had the paranormal enter my life?"

Again, Trunks shook his head. "That's only part of it. While I was looking at companies to make the deal with, I found some interesting information on yours. Something about Duel Monsters coming to life."

Kaiba paled but waited for Trunks to finish speaking.

"And when we were in Halloween Town, you became angry and a dark purple chi surrounded you. In my experience, that's not normal."

Kaiba felt his face continue to pale as he thought about what that could mean. "It must have been your imagination."

Trunks nodded. "Except you did it again just now."

Kaiba glared at the other man as he tried to figure out what he could say. The last thing he wanted was to explain his chaotic teenaged years with Death-T, Battle City, and his trip to the Ancient Egypt. However, he was saved the trouble by a tower appearing out of nowhere. They were all removed from their seats when the ship crash through it.

Questioning forgotten, the three slowly rose to their feet as Trunks killed the autopilot and halted the ship. In the dim light of the ship, the three saw skyscrapers towering over the surrounding ocean. Their windows were broken and fish darted in and out of them. It was almost like…

"It's like Atlantics," Keiko muttered as she looked around.

Trunks and Kaiba nodded as they looked around. However, while Kaiba was looking for signs of the ball, Trunks seemed to be filled with sorrow. Noticing this look, Kaiba couldn't help but ask, "Was this one of the places that couldn't be saved?"

Trunks nodded as he had the ship dive longer. Once they were on the street level for the city, they could see the abandoned cars littering the streets.

Keiko frowned as they floated past one of the cars and she saw a doll lying alone inside. "What happened to the people?"

Trunks swallowed. "If they were lucky, they returned to life the last time we use the dragon balls. If not…" He trailed off as he caught sight of a crater in the middle of the road and tattered clothing. It wasn't until they were passed the crater that he spoke again. "How much farther, Kaiba?"

Kaiba glanced at the pendant and saw that the glow was almost at the center of the jewel. "It should be here somewhere."

Trunks halted the ship and landed it in the middle of the street. "You have the suits?"

Kaiba nodded as he pointed to the area behind the control room where he had placed the suits when he had come down after Trunks had passed out. "However, only one is of a size we can use."

Trunks grinned as he grabbed one of the child sized suits. As he slipped it on over his clothes, the material stretched until Trunks was wearing the 'child sized' suit without a problem. Keiko put on the other small suit after removing her winter coat, which left Kaiba with the adult size. After taking off his signature white coat, Kaiba had no problem slipping into the suit and putting on his helmet. However, once again he was struck by the wandering thought of why Trunks' company would bother with a gaming company when they had so much more to offer.

Within seconds, the three jumped into the ocean and continued their search with the aid of the lights in their helmets. After a few moments of checking around the buildings, Kaiba realized that the ball was inside one of the many skyscrapers. Although everything in his logical mind said that it was a very stupid and reckless thing to do, he pushed open the door of the buildings and swam through leaving Trunks and Keiko to follow. Once inside, he saw that the building wasn't that different from his back home. In the lobby was a desk where the receptionists would sit. Off to the side was an elevator and a door that lead to a set of stairs. Over the radio in the helmets he heard Trunks caution them about opening doors unnecessarily because it could weaken the structure. Once again, Kaiba ignored him as he opened the door to the stairs and started to swim up. Only a little longer until he could forget all about this adventure. Just like all the other ones he was still trying to forget.

He reached the third floor without a problem, and his locket showed that the ball should be on the other side of the door. But when he opened the door, there wasn't water inside and the water in the hall didn't spill out into the room. For a moment, he hesitated as he tried to figure out what was going on. In that moment, Trunks and Keiko appeared at his side.

"Did the dragon balls ever do this?" Keiko asked as they stared into the floor without water.

Trunks shook his head. "Not to my knowledge."

Kaiba glanced down at his locket again. The glow was almost on top of the center of the jewel. Just a little bit more before he would find Takahashi and get this over and done with. Bracing himself for the building to collapse or some sort of trap go off, Kaiba stepped into the room.

A moment passed and the water on his suit vanished.

Another moment passed and Trunks stepped into the room. The water on his suit also vanished.

Then Keiko stepped into the room and removed her helmet to the horror and terror of Kaiba and Trunks. However, she didn't drop dead. She didn't start choking on her tongue. She didn't start gagging as poisonous fumes entered her body. She was fine and she was giving them funny looks.

"It's just air," she said as she started to walk around the floor.

Kaiba removed his helmet, indirectly causing Trunks to freak out, and said, "That doesn't mean you knew that when you took your helmet off. But when we find the ball, we should all have our helmets on. In case the building collapses."

She nodded and followed him as he moved farther away from the staircase, leaving Trunks to slowly follow and mutter about how it was just like being in space again. As they explored the third floor, they found air behind every door. Although Trunks and Kaiba couldn't explain it, they didn't try and instead searched for the ball. Finally, Trunks uncovered it on a desk in a box full of junk. It appeared that at the moment the city was struck down, someone was leaving the company.

As agreed, they all placed their helmets back on before Trunks grabbed the ball. Trunks' fingers closed around the ball before he quickly tossed it to Kaiba who stuck it in a zipper pocket. Without waiting for the trial to show up, they made a dash for the ship. However, instead of using the stairs, Trunks kindly kicked through the windows allowing them all to jump out the third floor window and swim for the ship.

However, when they were at the ship, Kaiba paused and looked around. All the sea life had vanished but the city just sat there. Waiting. Silent. Dead. As the last word, passed through his mind, he felt the water around him drop a few degrees but there still was no danger. No trial.

Trunks and Keiko were both inside the ship waiting for him, but this time he sat and waited. The last time, he had been attacked because he wasn't watchful. And he'd be damned if the same thing happened again. But after many moments of silence, nothing had shown itself. Was it a free one? Or another trap?

Slowly, he became aware that the ocean was not completely silent. There was almost a hum in the water surrounding him. Then his eyes caught sight of movement off behind a building. Almost as if a person was hiding in the shadows. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw movement and when he turned he saw a child sized figure duck behind a parked car. In the light of his helmet, a small cloud of red appeared in the water.

His logic battled against his senses. He had just seen something that was humanoid looking but it couldn't be a human. Trunks had told them that if the city was returned to life, they would have moved away. Plus, without suits, the pressure would kill anyone. But that room of air had to be created by someone and it was possible to make underwater cities with proper technology. Were the citizens unwilling to leave their city?

He could hear Trunks shouting at him to get into the ship but if that was a child, then what were they doing down here? And how did they get hurt?

Beside him, Trunks had jumped back into the water and had grabbed Kaiba on the shoulder. However, instead of dragging him up to the ship (as Kaiba had expected) Trunks paused and looked in the opposite direction. He muttered a word Kaiba only half-heard before swimming off. He, on the other hand, stayed floating by the ship watching. Part of his mind was focused on the fact that he was in the middle of a trial and he had to complete it to find Takahashi. The rest of his mind was wondering what a kid was doing down here.

Finally, he looked over his shoulder and told Keiko to stay put and that he would find Trunks and come right back. He didn't even consider the fact that it must have looked odd to Keiko that he had swam off in the opposite direction as Trunks. He had to know what a child was doing down here alone.

The shadow was waiting for him in the next alley, but it swam off before he could get close. Figuring that the child must be afraid, Kaiba slowly followed. He found the kid in the next alley and was able to get closer before it scooted away. However, it remained close enough that Kaiba could look at the child's face. Big brown eyes looked up at him from under a helmet similar to his own and Kaiba knew he should be feeling shocked. The person in front of him looked just like his brother. Every single time he had ran into a look-a-like of his brother or himself something bad always happened. However, this time, he ignored the alarms in his head and kneeled down so that he was at the kid's height. Clutched in the child's arms was a stuffed rabbit and he noticed a small tear in the child's suit around his arm where a small scratch was bleeding.

"Where are your parents?" he asked as nicely as he could.

The child's eyes started to fill with tears. "Gone. The bad man took them."

Kaiba frowned but the child continued.

"He came out of nowhere and blasted the street before the waves came. Then mom and dad were gone."

Somewhere in the back of Kaiba's mind, he remembered Trunks mentioning that this place couldn't be saved. As he remembered Trunks, he remembered the trials for the briefest of seconds. But then the little boy looked at him and he forgot. He couldn't leave the kid here alone. The kid was probably running out of air as it was. Reaching out his hand, he said, "Come on. We'll get you back on land."

The child backed away and shook his head. "The bad man's up there."

Kaiba frowned. "The bad man is probably gone."

"He's still alive! I know he is! He had blonde hair and scary eyes! He can't die! He changes shapes to surprise you!"

Kaiba shook his head as he tried to piece together what he had been told. "But you can't stay here."

The little boy paused before he looked up at Kaiba. "Not alone," the child said.

Again, Kaiba became aware of a humming in the water as he tried to figure out what to do. He wanted to stay and look after the kid. Being alone in the world was the worst fate for anyone. But he had to go back. Kaiba paused. Why did he have to go back? He closed his eyes as he tried to remember but all he heard was the humming and it penetrated his thoughts. He had to go back and… what? He opened his eyes and noticed his suit. Right. He had a company back home. He had to go back and make sure that the company was working.

He glanced at the kid ready to try to convince the child that the bad man was gone but he paused. The little one's eyes were huge and watering. The little one was scared to death of someone above the water. This was the only place the child had and the only home he had ever known. Suddenly, returning topside wasn't as important to Kaiba. There wasn't anything for him up on land. He was slowly working himself to death and besides, Mokuba could run it.

His thoughts came to a shrieking halt as he thought about Mokuba. What was he thinking? He couldn't leave Mokuba behind! He was his brother!

The humming in his ears was becoming unbearable, and he could feel a headache coming on. In an attempt to find some piece, he closed his eyes but the humming only increased so he opened his eyes. The sight before him made him want to run.

Before him was a giant sea serpent whose yellow eyes watched his every move. Its body disappeared into the street system but Kaiba had a sneaking suspicion that at the end of the body was another head that was trying to trick Trunks. This was the trial, Kaiba realized. Sirens were famous in Ancient Greece for leading sailors to their deaths and it probably would have been his if he had agreed to say. The snake probably would eat him. As it was, the snake was watching him, waiting for him to make a decision. It didn't know that Kaiba was out of its illusion. However, he probably couldn't out swim it. So that left one other option.

Trying to picture the little boy again, Kaiba said, "If I'm staying, I have to tell my friends."

Part of his mind saw the little boy smile and reply, "I think I know where they are," before running off. The rest of him saw the snake grin, hiss, and turn back on itself so that it was leading Kaiba to its tail.

When they arrived, he saw that Trunks was talking to the snake's other head, no doubt picturing something that made the other man very happy. Underneath his focus and determination to complete the trials, Kaiba couldn't help but feel a little bad that he was going to ruin whatever Trunks was seeing. But if he didn't do something, Trunks would be seeing with cold, empty, and dead eyes.

While the snakes watched, he walked up to Trunks and punched him as hard as he could in the gut. It was like punching a brick wall, and Kaiba had to shake his hand five times before a feeling other than pain came back. Trunks' eyes had widened in surprised, narrowed in anger, before widening again when he caught sight of the snakes.

"Oh crap," he muttered.

Beside him Kaiba nodded before muttering back, "Now what genius?"

"Swimming comes to mind."

Kaiba nodded and quickly turned with Trunks and started swimming back for the ship. It wasn't until they reached it that the snake realized what was happening and started to swim towards them. Thankfully, Keiko was at the controls and started to move the ship out of there in a hurry. As the men removed their suits, Keiko moved them up into shadow water and tried to avoid the hungry jaws of the snake's two heads. However, she wasn't used to driving high performance so Kaiba quickly took the wheel while Trunks opened the door to throw blasts back at the monster. However, the monster was able to create blasts of its own by opening its mouth.

Only by performing stunts that he thought only his jet could perform, was the ship able to avoid getting hit by any of the blasts. Unfortunately, as all human do, Kaiba eventually made a mistake and the ship took a blast. From the sound of metal denting, Kaiba was sure that they had lost an engine. However, he didn't hear Trunks blasting the monster anymore and Keiko had disappeared. The monster didn't seem to care as it continued blasting them. It was then that Kaiba caught sight of the building that they had crashed into earlier. Just maybe…

Taking the risk, he gunned the energy and crashed through the building a second time. The serpent started to follow but the hole wasn't big enough for the creature. Half of it was stuck on one side of the building while the other half was stuck on the other side. As its meal got away, the monster started to thrash and, as Kaiba was watching, the building started to collapse, bring the monster down with it. A second later, the humming stopped and the sea life returned.

Only once the sea life had returned, did Kaiba move from his seat at the front of the ship. He was shaking from the excitement but he was alive. When he entered the room where Trunks and Keiko had been, he found Keiko kneeling beside an unconscious Trunks who was lying underneath a huge dent in the wall. It didn't take a genius to fill in the blanks. Keiko barely looked up at Kaiba as she checked Trunks for any bloody gashes. When she didn't find anything, she sat back and smiled.

"Nice driving," she said.

Kaiba nodded as he went over to his suit and pulled out a long, sea green lance that was engraved with white waves and pictures of ocean life. They had all three now. It wouldn't be much longer before he would see Takahashi and his little brother again.

Beside Keiko, Trunks groaned and clutched at his head as he sat up. "Did anyone get the number of the car that hit me?" he asked.

Keiko laughed but Kaiba's only reply was to hold out the spear. "Three down," he said. And only Eros to go.


	7. Fighting Copies

**Fighting the Power **

**E**ven though Keiko wanted to ask the two males what had happened to them while she waited for them in the ship, she knew better. Back at Sarayashiki Junior High, she had learned a little about Greek history and the legends of the sirens. When she heard a slight humming, she had a feeling what was going on. In fact, she was about to slip back into her suit when she spotted Kaiba following the head of a giant snake. The fact that he was frowning and keeping a large bubble of space between him and the monster was enough proof for Keiko to see that he wasn't under the siren's spell. So rather than dive back into the water, she had gotten to the controls and started following as best she could.

Now as Trunks guided the ship back to land, Keiko was curious but she felt it was a little rude to ask the males what they had seen. After all, sirens were supposed to be able to prey on your greatest weakness and she had a feeling neither man wanted to admit they weren't invincible.

The return trip to the pier was far faster than the trip out to sea once Trunks hit a button that allowed the ship to travel above the speed of sound. Within minutes Keiko found herself with both feet firmly planted on solid ground. However, it wasn't until Trunks capsulized the ship that she spoke. "Now what?"

The men traded a glance before Trunks shrugged. "I don't know. I mean we have the gifts so maybe we have to deliver them or something," Trunks said.

Kaiba meanwhile was frowning down at his pendant. "They aren't even lightning up anymore. Maybe we have to…" His voice trailed off.

Unsure why the C.E.O would do that, Keiko glanced at him before gasping. His body was slowly fading from view. A quick look at Trunks showed that the same was happening to him and when she looked down at her own hands she could easily see the wood of the pier underneath. "What's going on?" she asked.

Before either man could answer they faded from her view completely and she blinked. When she opened her eyes she no longer saw the harbour but a very familiar place. For a second, she thought she had been transported to the roof of her old junior high school. But the sky wasn't the right colour. Instead of the usual blue, it was an eerie red and the building wasn't made of white stone. It was black. Nevertheless, the layout of the grounds, the towering three stories. It was just like her old school. Not knowing what was going on, Keiko slowly started to explore. As she pushed open the doors to go inside the school, a chill ran down her spine.

The school was quiet. Not that she had expected noise but it was too much like that day when—

Step.

Her thoughts halted. She turned to look over her shoulder. Nothing. The hallway was dead. The sound must have been in her head. She started to walk again. The steps started again **but** she knew they weren't echoes. Someone was behind her.

She turned again. Nothing. But outside the window she saw movement. She glanced out the window. The grounds were empty. Was this another trial she wondered? Or was it the meeting place? Was Yusuke somewhere in the school? And why was she at the opposite of Sarayashiki?

She continued walking and opened the door without looking at the sign above it. Inside she found papers covering a desk. The Japanese on them made no sense although it appeared they were papers for a newsletter. It was almost as if they were just there to set a mood. It almost reminded her of when she had been filing similar papers for the student council back when she was fourteen. Then Mr. Iwamoto had come and attacked her. The school had been quiet then too.

"Brings back memories doesn't it?"

Keiko whipped around and took a step back so that if the person attacked she might have time to dodge. The face she found herself looking at scared her even more than a demon or a homicidal teacher. The other girl entered the room from the hall and looked around with a dazed smile. Keiko took another step back and put the table between them.

"You almost died here," the girl continued. "If it hadn't been for Yusuke and Botan, you **would** have died."

Keiko swallowed. "Who… are you?"

The girl smiled and a wind rustled through the suddenly open window causing the girl's blue sailor uniform to quiver. "Me?" the girl asked, not even noticing her short brown hair floating in the breeze.

Keiko nodded.

"I'm who you should have been but Keiko seems like such a lame name." The girl raised her hand and a ball of purple energy started to grow. It changed shape until it was long with a heavy block at the end. "I prefer Kimiko."

Without waiting to see what the other girl was capable of, Keiko ducked to the ground and dashed for the door. At the same time Kimiko swung the giant hammer. The wall at the height of Keiko's upper body crumbled into dust as Keiko rolled into the hall. Kimiko was right. Memories flashed behind her eyelids as she remembered the time she had ran through the school fearing for hers and Botan's lives. This time there were two critical differences. This time she was alone and Yusuke wasn't going to be able to save her.

She kept running without paying attention to where she was going until she ran into a dead end.

Kimiko laughed as she followed her at a more leisurely pace. "You can't hide. You can't fight. It's over for you, Keiko Yukimura. What can you do against a super mortal?"

Keiko glanced around and noticed the blue fire extinguisher. She grinned. "Not too much I suppose."

Kimiko readied to swing her hammer again. "I'm glad you see it my way."

As the hammer started to fall, Keiko dived to the side and grabbed the extinguisher. She hooked the pin and pointed the hose so that her copy would be covered in foam. She squeezed the trigger. Nothing came out.

The hammer stopped in mid-swing and Kimiko started to laugh again. "This is my home. You really believed that I would leave something helpful to you here?"

Keiko frowned but took the chance to throw the item at Kimiko. It hit her dead center in the face. Before the clone could even blink or understand what had just happened, Keiko ran for it. The first door she came to she dove into and shut the door. Hoping that Kimiko would walk by, she didn't lock it. Panting, she looked around for some sign of a weapon.

Nothing. Not even a broom.

Hearing footsteps approaching, Keiko held her breath. A wave of panic crashed over her as she wondered if her copy could sense energy like Kuwabara. Kimiko came closer. Keiko could see the shadow behind the door. Time seemed to slow down. Was she stopping? Was she going to open the door?

No. The footsteps didn't even pause as the clone walked by the door. However, Keiko didn't let out a sigh until she couldn't hear anything but silence. She was safe. For now.

Turning back to the classroom, she tried to think of a clever plan. The old trick of hiding behind the curtain wasn't going to work this time and she would have to fight back eventually. As an experiment, she tried to move a chair. Either the objects were nailed to the floor or she didn't have the strength to move them.

She glanced over at the closet in the far corner. Although she doubted she'd find anything helpful she still opened the door. She bit back a scream when she saw the contents.

"Yusuke!" she breathed as she kneeled down beside her boyfriend. Blood coated her fingers when she gently touched his face. From the looks of things his nose, arms, and legs were all broken. He winched when she brushed his bangs from his closed and bruised eyes.

"What happened to you?" she murmured as she took her handkerchief from her pocket to wipe away some of the blood.

His eyes opened but he couldn't seem to focus on her face. "Keiko?"

Tears were making it hard for her to see. "I'm here, Yusuke."

He grinned but the corners of his mouth barely moved. "I always said you punched harder than—" He stated to hack up blood.

She moved to help him but he shrugged her off. "You have to get out of here," he whimpered.

"How?"

He nodded to the window. "If you climb down and get past the gate, she'll leave you alone."

Keiko frowned as she looked out the window. She could make it but… "What about you?"

He glared at her. "Forget me. Just get out of here!"

"So that monster can finish what she started?"

"Keiko. I'm not the one she wants dead. You have to get out of here!"

"I'm not going anywhere without you."

"Idiot! Do I look like I can just walk out of here?"

A laugh from the doorway halted their discussion.

"Well isn't this cute?" Kimiko rested her hammer in the doorway. "What do you think of my handy work, Oldie?"

Keiko rose to her feet. "Why?"

"Because he didn't want me but," Kimiko raised the hammer, "once you're out of the way he will."

At her feet, Yusuke shouted, "Keiko just run!"

However, as Keiko braced her feet, she knew she had no intentions of running. She knew she wasn't as strong or as fast as her copy but she refused to go quietly. She didn't see the spirit gun until it smashed her through the window.

Her whole body felt weak as Keiko stared up at the window she had just fallen through. Shouts of rage were coming from the room. She wanted to go back to be sure that Yusuke was okay but she felt so weak. Pink smoke clouded her vision as it collected in a ball above her. However, it soon vanished and Keiko forced herself to her feet. She would have to leave, get help, and then return to rescue Yusuke. Her muscles eventually moved and all her bones were intact. She limped more than walked to the gates. Only a little further, she thought.

The hammer came out of nowhere and Keiko found herself flying. Her bones all cracked and pain spread over her body as it crashed into the wall of the school, creating a huge crater. As she cracked her eyes open to look at her attacker, she noticed more pink smoke flow from her body into a small ball hovering in front of her. It vanished in seconds and was replaced with the hammer coming for Keiko's head. With strength Keiko wasn't even aware of, she pushed off the wall she had smashed into. She tumbled to the ground and was quickly covered by stone fragments from the wall the hammer had just destroyed. Again, she found herself running, ignoring the pain in her legs as she tried to think of a way to avoid death. Behind her, Kimiko's misses were cutting into the first floor of the school.

"You can run but I know where you will go, Keiko. Your terrified energy is easier to sense than Yusuke's."

Lungs screaming for air, Keiko ducked around one of the many water valves on school property in time to avoid a shot aimed to break her legs. Kimiko's laugher that was ringing through the schoolyard came to a halt as water sprayed into her face. Meanwhile, Keiko dashed to get some distance between her and her homicidal duplicate. As she glanced back at the girl, she noticed the damage to the school. There was more air than stone in the walls on the first floor. If the copy had kept attacking, the right side of the school would have collapsed.

Keiko frowned as she stopped running. The corners were still intact but already she could see cracks in the remaining wall, showing that the weight of the second floor was becoming too much. Yusuke was on the left side so maybe—

Behind her the water had stopped running so Keiko started moving. This time she stood in front of the corner of the school and waited as the super-powered diva wiped the water from her face. For a moment, Kimiko looked normal with a frown on her face as she struggled to see. Then her eyes fell on Keiko and a disfiguring grin appeared on her face. Keiko frowned and prayed she still hadn't enough energy to do what needed to be done. She wasn't like the other members of the gang. She didn't have super-strength, super-speed, or super-ability. But she was Keiko and she wasn't going down without a fight.

"I don't know who you are," Keiko said, trying to feel braver than she was, "But you aren't me and you are never going to become me."

Kimiko's eyes glowed red but the grin remained as the hammer flew. "We'll see about that!"

Keiko ducked and jumped through one of the many holes in the walls. She had to get to the other corner before her clone caught on. Behind her the hammer destroyed the corner but the building remained standing. Glancing over her shoulder, Keiko saw Kimiko walk over the rumble and into the building. The walls that separated the classrooms were keeping the roof up but they were already starting to crack as Keiko ran from the classrooms to the hall. Behind her, Kimiko walked through the doorways, not caring that her hammer was smashing through the second last supports in the building.

Just a bit more and she'd be at the corner. Praying, Keiko begged for her plan to work. She didn't have anything else she could do if her plan failed. She reached the corner and saw how the walls were already starting to buckle. However, the outside walls were intact in the classroom. Her only way to escape would be to duck around the copy and run. She swallowed and tried to ignore the fear that made it harder to breath. This had to work. If not for her sake, then for Yusuke's. She knew better than anyone that if she did die that Yusuke would never fall for the replica. Kimiko would kill him then. So her plan must work.

Kimiko entered the room. Casually her hammer smashed through the wall creating the doorway. She grinned as she looked at Keiko hiding in the corner.

"All out of hiding places?"

Keiko frowned and kept silent. Her plan had to work. Kimiko had shown that she had only strength and the ability to make weapons. She had never shown any ability to move faster than an average human. That would be Keiko's only saving grace. As long as Kimiko wasn't playing her.

"No final words?"

She shook her head. This was her only chance. It had to work. It had to.

Kimiko nodded. "Alright then." She lunged at Keiko. The hammer bit into the wall smashing it to bits. The other walls started to creak. But Keiko couldn't move. The copy had grabbed her arm as she had ran past. Tiles fell from the ceiling as the building had started to collapse.

"Sorry Kei-chan," Kimiko murmured. "I guess you just aren't good enough." From her pocket she pulled out a knife. "I'll make sure that Yusuke is well taken care of."

Keiko pulled at her arm, trying to get it out of the copy's grip. At her side, her hand curled into a fist. The knife was reaching for her throat. The building started to shake and crumble. Keiko raised her arm. She wasn't going to die. She wasn't going to let this counterfeit take her place. She took a step towards the copy and aimed for the face. "LET GO!"

Her punched connected. She saw Kimiko's eyes widened. The grip on her arm vanished but she didn't stay to see anymore. She dived through the hole in the corner of the building just as the right side of the black stone building collapsed. She waited. Any second she was going to see the monster burst from the stone and finish her. Minutes passed. The stone remained unmoved. It was over. She had won.

As she looked at the rumble that was the right wing of the school, Keiko still couldn't believe it. She was alive. She had beaten a psychic! But Yusuke was still trapped. Turning, she readied herself to rush back into the school to find her boyfriend. She paused. She blinked. She stared.

Before her was a door craved out of white stone with a golden doorknob. Stumbling towards it was Yusuke. She called out to him, telling him to stop. He continued to limp towards the door. When she took a step towards him, he put his hand on the door, turned the knob, and vanished.

Yusuke was missing again.

**Fighting the Fear **

The city he arrived at was nothing like the one he had left. Trunks was at a harbour but he was alone. Keiko and Kaiba had disappeared and all the surrounding buildings had been destroyed. A ship had been thrown through three warehouses before coming to a rest in a fourth one. The other five warehouses had been burned to the ground. He stood still, taking in the scene around him and wondering what had happened to the city. Even from his place at the harbour he could smell the lingering smoke drifting his way from the city. Then he felt an insanely strong and familiar chi coming towards him. There was no doubt in his mind who it was. He started to power up. This time he was going to get some answers!

Rather than wait for the enemy to come to him, he went to it. He met his target just over the ruins of what used to be East District 439. The remains of trees littered the area, and the house that belonged to the Son family had been cracked like an egg. However, the appearance of his enemy caused him the most surprise. Floating just five feet in front of him was him. The hair was longer. A sword sat in a sheath strapped to the enemy's back. And there were multiple scars showing on the flesh left uncovered by the black muscle shirt but it was without a doubt him.

The enemy studied Trunks as well as they floated. Below them, a small wind kicked up dust and threw it into the house Chi-Chi had tried to keep so clean. The enemy looked down to watch as the dust spun around the photos that had been lovely placed around the house.

Eventually Trunks found his voice. "You're not Eros."

The other man frowned as he looked back up at Trunks. "No. I'm not. But I can guess who you are. You're from that other timeline. The one I visited fifteen years ago, right?"

Trunks nodded. What was going on? Was this part of the trials? Or had something gone wrong? "Yeah but I don't know how I got here."

Future, or rather present, Trunks smiled. "Maybe my mom has some ideas. She was helping out some people with a water pump problem but she probably will be able to help you out later." He pointed in the direction of West City. "There isn't really much to do but waiting in West City will probably be better than floating around here."

Trunks nodded and started to follow the other man when a voice shouted through the air.

"Don't listen to him!"

Both purple-haired men halted in mid-air and turned to look behind them. Floating barely a metre above the ground was a blood covered Goten. He clutched his right arm with his left as he looked up to where the other half-saiyans were. Letting go of his most likely broken arm, Goten pointed at Future Trunks. "It's a trap. He's going to lead you to the Northern Mountains and try to kill you!"

Goten didn't even have time to dodge as the blue chi blast knocked him off his feet and onto the ground. Forgetting about the man who had just fired the blast, Trunks dropped to the ground and ran over to his friend. Up close he noticed that Goten's wounds were worse than they had appeared in the air. Not only was his arm broken but Goten also had a few ribs poking out where they shouldn't. One leg was badly burned and his face looked like someone had tried to rearrange it with their fists. It was a miracle he was still breathing. Barely able to control his anger, Trunks muttered, "Just hang on," before turning to face himself. "What did you do that for?"

Future Trunks' hands curled into fists as he replied. "I'm getting tired of having to explain this to each one of Dr. Togashi's creations. Just because you look like my friends or me does not mean you can trick or beat me."

The punch sent Trunks flying but he regained balance by pushing off the ground with one hand. As he wiped a bit of blood from his lip, he wondered just how strong he was compared to his other self. From the stories he had heard from his mother and Goku, Future Trunks had reached super saiyan one and even ascended saiyan. At that point, no one knew about super saiyan 2, 3, or 4. Of course, Future Trunks had only been in his teens at that time. Now he was at least ten years older.

Future Trunks lunged at him again but Trunks blocked and threw a punch of his own that just missed the other man's jaw. As Future Trunks jumped back, Trunks felt himself smile. This fight would be over before it even started. After all, a super saiyan 1 could never beat a super saiyan 3. Of course to do that Goten would have to wake up and then they would have to do fusion. But even without super saiyan 3, Trunks felt he would be able to beat his copy. He had become a super saiyan when he was only six and it had taken Future Trunks until he was seventeen to master the transformation.

For a moment, the two flew around and threw punches and kicks at each other. More often than not, the attacks were blocked. The few times one of the punches landed, the victim would crash into the ground moments later due to a storm of punches. At some point they had even crossed into being super saiyans and Trunks found that Future Trunks was far stronger than he had expected. The other man was just as powerful as Trunks in that form. Obviously protecting the Earth alone had caused the man to grow in power.

Then Future Trunks drew his sword. Swinging the blade over his head, he aimed for Trunks' head. Out of instinct more than reason, Trunks drew his own sword out of the sheath on his back. The blades met with a metallic clash. However, Future Trunks had more experience with his weapon and easily pushed Trunks back. While Trunks clumsily tried to block, Future Trunks moved in with deadly precision. Within seconds, blood was dripping to the ground from many small cuts on Trunks.

He could never win like this. His only hope was to disarm the other man and hope that super saiyan would be enough to defeat the man. However, he had never used a sword before so disarming Future Trunks with it would be an act of fate not skill. That left only one other option. Creating a protective chi barrier around his hands, Trunks threw his sword.

As expected, Future Trunks dodged and moved in for the kill. As the blade was about to enter his body, Trunks grabbed caught it between his hands.

Surprise flashed over Future Trunks' face but he did not speak. Instead he watched as Trunks moved the sword downwards before breaking it in half. Without looking at his other self, Trunks attacked. Landing punch after punch, he attacked the man. Even as they crashed through the trees, Trunks continued to attack. It wasn't until they crashed through a stone pillar that Trunks stopped. Learning from Toguro, Trunks channelled all the chi he had into one blow and released it.

The pillar was destroyed and the body hit the desert floor. Around him the sounds of the wind moving around the land returned. During the battle nothing had been said. The two had simply fought. There had been nothing to say. Future Trunks was sure that Trunks was nothing but a robot and he would not have listened if Trunks had told him otherwise. There was no other way. However, that meant this time did not have a saiyan warrior to protect it. Or a mother her child. Trunks closed his eyes to try to avoid thinking about that. When he opened them he saw smoke around him.

He hadn't noticed it during the fight but pink smoke had been floating out of his body and flowing into the sword of the fighter. Not sure what was going on, he still picked up the sword. It flashed dark purple but did nothing as Trunks placed it back into its sheath. Without a thought to the body that lay on the ground behind him, Trunks turned to fly back to where he had left Goten. There was nothing he could do.

Behind him, the body inhaled and struggled to his feet. Trunks noticed but continued to fly. He had to find his friend.

When he arrived at the place he had left Goten, he was nowhere to be found. However, a trail of blood led to a door made of black marble with a silver handle. Trunks sighed. It looked like he had one last thing to do before he could find Goten and go home.

**Fighting the Past **

**S**and was the first thing he saw after he completely faded from the harbour. Sand and a giant stone temple surrounded by many other stone buildings. He had expected there to be people walking around doing their daily business. However, the city was dead as if the town's people were observing some religious tradition. Frowning, he tightened his grip on the lance and walked towards the temple. With luck, he would find answers there. If not, he could stay out of the sun and remain alert. Unlike his previous trips to the sand-covered land, he could feel the heat sipping through his white coat to the black clothing underneath. Although he probably only had an hour until dusk.

Inside the temple was quiet and cool. Torches burned scented oil and stone reliefs of monsters not unlike what he was familiar with covered the walls. Finally, statues of soldiers holding weapons lined the hallway. He walked deeper into the temple, taking careful notice of the direction he had come. Part of him thought that the eyes of the monsters were following him as he walked but he ignored them. They were just stone carvings and stone carvings couldn't move.

He continued walking until he came to a doorway with a door made of bars. Sensing he shouldn't, he pushed open the door. Inside the torches were fewer and far between. The walls were bare and the sensation of something following him returned from his office where he had left it. He ignored the feeling and remained alert. As a child he had been taught self-defence, thankfully that included the use of a staff. Although fighting with a lance is not the same, the knowledge was still comforting.

Finally, he came to the end of the hallway. The distance between the walls widened, creating a circular room at the end of the hall. A hole in the roof let in light from the sun, creating a circle of light in the middle of the room. The light covered a single stone relief carved onto a square block of stone. The dragon watched him as he neared the carving. The last time he had seen the carving it had been standing in the middle of a ruined courtyard.

Kaiba shook his head to remove the memories. Eros had sent him to the past for some reason. The sooner he figured out why and how to beat the trial, he sooner he could leave.

He was standing in front of the carving and could see the delicate lines that created the dragon's body and eyes that seemed alive. Some part of his soul was sickened at the thought of how an innocent girl had died in the creation of the tablet he saw before him. He pushed those feelings away. Those weren't his feelings because he wasn't the one who had caught the girl as she fell. He wasn't the one she was trying to protect. He wasn't that priest.

"You shouldn't be here."

Kaiba knew without turning who was behind him. The voice had given the priest away. He turned and took in the appearance of the man now in front of him. The tunic was the same only a white cape was draped over the man's shoulders. The hat had also been changed so that wings stretched our from the sides of the blue crown. However, the blue eyes were the same. Angry and filled with self-righteous arrogance.

"And I suppose you are going to force me to leave, _Pharaoh_?" Kaiba replied, mockingly using the man's title.

Pharaoh Seth's eyes narrowed and he moved to stand beside his reincarnation in front of the tablet. "Not if you leave willingly."

"How generous."

"You don't even know where you are, do you?"

Kaiba frowned. He wasn't used to having his comebacks flip on him and he wasn't enjoying the experience. Seth continued without waiting for an answer. "This is the tomb of Kisara, the White Dragon."

Kaiba nodded. "As I recall she died trying to protect you."

"Us. And you disgrace her memory by coming here."

Kaiba shook his head. "I'm not you."

"And I suppose the world is flat."

Kaiba was silent. He wasn't getting anywhere and time was running out. Although he had no idea how much time had passed since the trials started, he was sure he had less than an hour to find Takahashi. As much as he hated to admit it, he was stuck and only Seth would have the answer to the trial.

In a admit to speed things up, Kaiba tried to figure out how he was disgracing Kisara's memory so that he could get Seth to forget about it and tell him what was going on. "If this is about that fourth Blue Eyes card—"

Seth shook his head. "A tablet breaking does not harm the ka inside. I was referring to your behaviour towards the dragon."

If Kaiba was any other man, he would have slouched over in disbelief. Not that heart of the cards speech again. "Look, if this will make things move any faster, I've already heard this from Yugi so save it. Monsters are servants and must be respected. They aren't toys to be thrown out. I've heard it!"

Seth was glaring at him but it was no more threatening than looking in a mirror. "I was referring to your womanizing."

"I'm not the one with a harem, Pharaoh!"

"Nor am I, Seth."

Kaiba glared at the man but it had no affect. Not that he had expected on. "My name is Seto. Not Seth and I have no idea what you are talking about."

"I think you do." Seth moved behind the tablet and into the darkness. He reappeared moments later dragging something. He threw it at Kaiba's feet. His eyes widened. Slowly he kneeled down beside the girl at his feet. She was breathing but unconscious. As he gently touched her face so that he was sure she was real, she opened her eyes. She blinked as if she wasn't sure what she was seeing. Slowly she pointed over his shoulder.

"Why are there two of you?" she asked.

"Later," he replied as he grabbed her arm and forced her up. "We're leaving." He knew without turning that Seth was behind him. Probably jumping to conclusions that were wrong. However, Kaiba didn't have time for that. He had found Takahashi but he still had to find Eros and teach the brat a lesson. Unless Eros was behind him pretending to be Seth.

Takahashi frowned as she leaned against Kaiba for support. "That's fine but where are we and why are there two of you?"

Behind him, Seth spoke. "Why don't you explain? I'm sure every girl wants to know she was cheated on."

To Kaiba's quickly vanishing patience, Takahashi did not move. "What is he talking about?" she asked.

Seth was laughing and Kaiba knew Takahashi wouldn't move willingly. He had two options. Explain or…

With no explanation, Kaiba threw Takahashi over his shoulder and carried her towards the door. He ignored her shouting and squirming as best he could but it was difficult trying to carry the lance and Takahashi. Finally, he had to put her down or risk collapsing. Although he would never admit it, the heat and lack of food and rest were starting to get to him.

Seth had disappeared but Takahashi was glaring at him as she straightened her clothing.

"Now will you tell me what is going on?" she asked.

Kaiba shook his head as he led the way towards the exit of the tomb. "Lose some weight first."

Without looking, he knew Takahashi rolled her eyes but she was quiet and following him so he didn't care. It was doubtful that Seth had given up so easily. Kaiba wouldn't have but then Seth wasn't Kaiba. However, the nut seemed stuck on the idea that Kaiba was cheating on Blue Eyes White Dragon with Takahashi which made little if any sense. Of course nothing about the quest seemed to make sense. Time wasn't moving properly but they were given a time limit. People were supposed to be rescuing their lovers but he and Takahashi weren't and then there was the whole thing with the gifts.

Kaiba glanced down at his lance. What part did they play?

Behind him, Takahashi sighed and he tensed. Any second she was going to blast him with questions he didn't want to answer. For a second, Kaiba almost wished that someone from Yugi's little team had been kidnapped instead. At least that way he wouldn't have to explain anything about Egypt or his lookalike. On the other hand, if one of them had been kidnapped he wouldn't even be in the stupid mess at all.

He waited for the questions to come, dreading every second. Eventually, Takahashi did speak but she didn't say anything he expected.

"DUCK!"

The next second he found himself on the ground as a blast of blue light flew overhead. Takahashi was on the ground beside him and her eyes were wide as he helped her to her feet.

"Anything broken?"

She shook her head. Thankfully she didn't ask what had happened. He didn't think he could explain.

Seth appeared at the far end of the hall with a white dragon filling the fall behind him. He was no longer laughing. "You have to pick, Seto Kaiba." Seth motioned to the dragon. "Your duty or," he pointed at Takahashi, "cheap amusement."

Kaiba was silent as he gripped the lance so hard his knuckles turned white. Seth wasn't going to listen to him. He wasn't going to understand that Takahashi was an employee and nothing more. He didn't understand that Kaiba wasn't him and therefore didn't have the same duty as him. Finally, Seth didn't understand the horror of spending hours interviewing unlikely employees. Kaiba's eyes narrowed as the dragon's tail moved creating a breeze. Seth wasn't going to let them leave until he made a choice. Hating the taste of the words in his mouth, Kaiba said, "My duty."

Seth's eyes narrowed. "Liar."

The white dragon charged at Takahashi who dove to the side to avoid being eaten. She disappeared into the courtyard a second later. Seth, meanwhile, grabbed a sword from one of the statues that lined the hall and lunged at Kaiba. He barely had time to lift up the lance to make a barrier as Seth's sword came down. The sound of metal striking metal rang through the tomb. For a moment, Seth leaned against his sword, pushing Kaiba back.

Then he jumped back and Kaiba realized he wasn't going to win with the lance. He had no idea how to use it offensively and there was no way Seth was going to wait for him to learn. With little choice, Kaiba made a retreat.

Outside the moon had appeared and the desert was cool. In the distance, a jackal cried but the city was silent and empty. Knowing that Seth was coming, Kaiba ran for the nearest open doorway. He needed time to think. Inside he found shelves covered by scrolls that made the area like a maze. Footsteps were coming towards him, so he ran into the maze. Since the only light was from the moon, which slipped through the holes in the wall, Kaiba found himself moving slowly to avoid crashing into something. Again he was at a disadvantage. Seth probably knew the area inside out since he was living in the palace. As Kaiba bumped into a stand that held a disc of oil, he had an idea. Although Seth knew the layout, he could see no better than Kaiba. He was probably looking for a white blob moving around the shelves because of Kaiba's coat. A smirk appeared on Kaiba's face. Well then, why not give him a target?

Taking off his coat, Kaiba hanged it on the stand and moved behind one of the shelves. Now clothed in black, he blended in perfectly. All he had to do was wait. He tightened his grip on the lance as he heard footsteps. If this didn't work, he would have to think of something quickly.

Through the shelves he saw Seth spot the stand. He saw him raise the sword and saw it slash through his coat to strike the metal stand underneath. The metal clanged and Kaiba moved from behind the shelves. He placed the point of the lance against Seth's neck and the man froze.

"Let's get this straight," Kaiba said. "I'm not you. I've never been you and I am not your reincarnation. Got it?"

"We both know you are only lying to yourself," Seth replied.

Kaiba's grip on the lance tightened but loosened a second later. "Listen—" He didn't finish his sentence. Seth had turned and knocked the lance out of Kaiba's hand. The next movement from Seth cut Kaiba across the arm as Kaiba took a step back. Pink fog and blood flowed from the cut but while the blood dripped to the floor, the smoke drifted off. Kaiba didn't have time to worry about the smoke though because Seth lunged into another attack, catching him on the side of his face. Again blood was spilt and Kaiba wiped the blood away with the back of his hand. He didn't have time for this. He had no idea how much time he had before time was up for the trials and there was no way to know if Blue Eyes had killed Takahashi or not. This time when Seth moved, Kaiba did too. Ducking below the sword, Kaiba elbowed Seth in the chest. Seth, caught unprepared for the attack, was dropped his sword. Before he could recover, Kaiba grabbed his collar and flipped Seth over his shoulder. The pharaoh landed on the ground, winded and stunned a second later.

Kaiba glared at him as he placed a foot on Seth's chest to prevent him from moving. "Listen and listen well. I'm not you. I have no interest in some pathetic duty that you failed at. If you want to make up for it, fine but leave me out of it. I'm only interested in the future."

Seth was silent but slowly he began to fade. In seconds, Kaiba's boot was standing on the stone of the building. Rather than try to figure out what had just happened, Kaiba turned and started to walk towards where the lance had fallen. Somehow the lance had landed in front of a door made of lapis lazuli with a bronze doorknob. The door was slightly ajar and Kaiba had little doubt that Eros and Takahashi were on the other side.

**Beating Eros **

Only moments ago Yusuke had disappeared through the door. Keiko didn't know how he could move but she didn't waste time asking questions. Her legs felt like jelly underneath her but slowly she forced herself to walk through the door that had appeared when she had defeated her copy. On the other side, she found a Greek temple on a mountain top. All around clouds floated by but there was no sign of Yusuke. Or anyone else. He must have passed through another door that vanished, Keiko thought.

Her body was shaking with fatigue and she had no way to follow Yusuke. There was nothing she could do but wait and relax. She was alone. Nothing was trying to attack her. She sat down and waited to see what would happen next.

Within minutes another door appeared and Kaiba walked through carrying the lance. His coat was gone and Kaiba had a few cuts on him, but his eyes were not as angry as before. Almost as if he had defeated a ghost that had been plaguing him for years. She watched Kaiba glanced around the temple before he said, "Trunks not here yet?"

She shook her head. "You're the first person I've seen since coming here."

Kaiba nodded and started to look around when another door appeared and Trunks walked in with his sword in its sheath. He was covered in cuts and a few burns and most of his shirt had been ripped to pieces. But he smiled when he saw the other two. "Looks like we all beat our copies," he said.

Kaiba nodded. "But the trials aren't over yet. We still need to beat Eros." He paused to study Trunks. "Do you still have enough energy to take on a god?"

Trunks grinned as a mini-tornado appeared around him. "I should have enough." However, Trunks' grin suddenly vanished and he moved into a defensive stance. "He's here," he murmured.

Keiko frowned as Kaiba turned and held his lance at the ready. She didn't have a weapon, but somehow she didn't feel afraid. Within seconds, Keiko caught sight of the man that Trunks had sensed. He was tall and had pink eyes. However, he seemed to have manners too. When the man was a few feet from them, he stopped and bowed. "I am Eros," he said.

"Where are our friends?" Trunks asked.

The man sighed as if he had been hoping for some casual conversation before getting down to business. "They are safe," he said. "At least I think they are. The girl is for the moment. But if those two didn't listen to me… well…" He smiled. "I'm sure they're okay. Anyways, I'm proud to congratulate you on being the first people in ten hundred years to actually finish the trials." He held out his hands. "Now if you could just hand over those gifts, I can take you to them."

Kaiba frowned. "And we should trust you why?"

Eros blinked and then smiled. "Because I'm a god."

Trunks glared at him as he reached and pulled out the sword he had gotten. "That's not a good enough reason. How do we know that you won't attack us after we hand the items over?"

Eros frowned as he changed into a man with brown hair and paint splatters all over his clothing. "Well that's true. I do have a rep for being rather troublesome."

Keiko had been watching the conversation so she knew things were serious but she couldn't help but ask, "Why would you make trials that people cannot survive?"

Eros' eyes widened. However, he didn't reply right again. Instead he frowned and looked at the sky. After almost a minute he said, "Well because it's fun and it's the only to get the love for my collection. Speaking of that…" Eros waved his hand and the gifts started to glow pink. Pink smoke flew away from the gifts and into Eros' hands where it became three separate smoke bombs. He put them into his pocket and turned back to the three. "Now where were we?"

Keiko felt her stomach tie into a knot. He was no better than the monsters at the Dark Tournament. Although the demons were fighting for sport, the real monsters were sitting in luxury chairs watching the whole thing and making bets. "Killing innocent people just to further your collection is wrong," she said.

Eros nodded. "Yeah but since Psyches left to visit her mother in the afterlife for a year, I've been bored and besides, the best way to have fun is to do something you aren't allowed to do. Right Trunks?"

For a second, Trunks' aggressive stance slacked. "Well he does have a point," Trunks mumbled. "About having fun that is." He shook his head and quickly tightened his stance. "But this is going too far."

Eros shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe not. In any case, I've changed my mind about taking you to your friends. Let's have a bit of a fight and see if you really deserve to see your friends. Except for the girl. Fighting girls always let a bad taste in my mouth."

Kaiba and Trunks nodded as they readied their weapons. (Although they looked like they were going to throw them again first chance they got). "Keiko, take a few steps back," Trunks said.

Although she wanted to stay close, she knew that doing so would only cause trouble for the two males. So she listened and walked to the doors of the temple to watch. While the males sized each other up, she looked for something she could use as a weapon in case things got too one-sided. She didn't find anything so she stood on the steps and waited.

Eros had transformed into a biker with black hair and a lead pipe in hand while she was looking for a weapon. Now he said, "Let's go."

Trunks and Kaiba nodded but waited for him to make the first move. Eros didn't waste any time. He started to run towards them with a mighty battle cry.

Keiko's necklace suddenly glowed bright cherry red and a loud voice spoke from it.

"Eros! Not so fast!"

The god tried to stop but instead tripped over nothing so that he landed flat at the males' feet. At the same time, the necklace from the museum removed itself from Keiko's neck and floated a few feet away from her. Before her eyes, a body of a beautiful woman faded into a view so that she was wearing the necklace. Her hair was blonde as the sun but her eyes were red as hell and narrowed in fury as she pointed at the fallen god. Keiko realized that the woman in front of her was the goddess Aphrodite when the woman shouted, "Eros! I raised you better than this!"

The god stood up and transformed into a white haired man in a pink suit. With wide, sorrowful eyes he said, "But mother…"

Out of the corner of her eye, Keiko saw Kaiba and Trunks dropped their weapons. When she turned to look, the items had been replaced with two men. One wrapped in a black rode so that he looked like the stereotypical Grim Reaper and nothing like the ferry girl Keiko was friends with. The other looked like a man about to go surfing in khaki shorts and a Bermuda t-shirt. The Grim Reaper was the first to speak.

"Listen to your mother," he said as he waved his arms around. "I've had at least 1000 souls come in too early because of you and I don't want anymore."

Eros frowned. "Hades, they would have died at some point. What does it matter that they came in early?"

Hades started to wave his arms around. "You know how much it matters because I've told you at least twice! It throws the whole schedule out of whack!"

"Well—" Eros found himself cut off when his mother grabbed him by the ear and started yelling into it. Keiko couldn't help but smile as she walked over to where Trunks and Kaiba were watching the god get scolded.

"Eros!" Aphrodite screamed. "You listen to your elders! We know best and we are tired of dealing with you! Do I have to take away Psyche? Do I!"

While Eros shouted and tried to explain, the surfer turned to Trunks, Kaiba, and Keiko. His smile was sunny and friendly as he rubbed the back of his head with one hand. "Sorry about him. We thought we had him broken out of this the last time it happened. I guess a lecture from Aphrodite and five hundred years of match-making seniors didn't work." He held out his hand. "I'm Poseidon by the way."

Trunks and Keiko shook his hand while Kaiba silently glared. "Where are the people we're looking for?" he asked.

Poseidon sighed as he looked at Trunks and Keiko. "One track mind, huh?"

Trunks nodded and Poseidon smiled. "Well usually Eros is the only one allowed to enter his realm but I think I'll take you now. Aphrodite will probably keep going for days."

Keiko knew she couldn't hide the joy she felt when she heard that sentence so she allowed her grin to show. "Really?" she asked.

The god nodded and another door suddenly appeared. This one was as pink as Eros' eyes and was covered in hearts. "Now let's go see your friends," Poseidon said as he walked through the door.

Without another word, the three followed the god through the door and into the other realm.


	8. Reunion

**Reunion with a Comrade **

"**D**amn it," Takahashi said as she dropped the branch that had suddenly erupted into flames. She paused for a moment to blow on her hands that had become far too hot for her liking. At her feet lay the remains of the stick. It had been reduced not to ashes but to a pile of black soot. "I can't believe that you guys aren't being fried by the heat," she said once her hands were at normal temperature again.

Yusuke glared down at her. "We know that already! Just find another stick and get us down from here!"

Beside him, Goten, the quiet and sweet voice of reason, said, "Yusuke, if it didn't work the first time, it's probably not going to work the last time and it's probably because of our unusual heritage. I don't know about demons but saiyans can survive almost anything."

Takahashi frowned. Goten and Yusuke had taken at least an hour a piece to explain their unusual heritage so she wasn't surprised when Goten referred to it. However, she doubted that was the reason for her friends not bursting into flames. "Or maybe the links only burn organic material so it doesn't burn through the jackets you're wearing," she suggested.

If the situation wasn't so bad, she might have laughed when Yusuke started turning red from anger. "I don't care how burned I should be! Keiko has probably gotten herself killed by now!"

Takahashi sighed and she glanced back at the orb. As Eros had promised, they were able to use it to watch their friends' progress through the trials. More than once, she had nearly broken the stupid thing when it blacked out at the most crucial times but it had done its job. They were able to watch as Keiko solved the riddle, Trunks battled the creepy demon (Goten was still upset that he wasn't able to help beat the freak up), and Kaiba defeated the sirens.

However, when the three vanished from the harbour ball had gone black. Now they had no idea what was going on with their friends. Although she didn't tell the males, Takahashi had a feeling they would be having a visit from Eros very soon with news that was going to make her very upset. To keep her mind off it she said, "Keiko has to deal with you so I'm sure she's doing just fine."

That fact did little to calm Yusuke who had started pulling at the chains. "Damn it! Can't transform or I'll burn to death. Can't rip the chains to pieces because I can't get a grip. This sucks!"

Goten, sensing his new friend's unease, tried to calm Yusuke by mentioning that Trunks at least would make sure that Keiko was alright. Takahashi decided to keep quiet. For reasons beyond her, her boss had decided to keep his cold, evil boss rep instead of showing that he was human to the press. So if he wanted to keep that rep, she wasn't going to ruin it by telling Yusuke that Kaiba probably would do the same as Trunks. Of course the males would have to find Keiko first since the three had disappeared from the harbour.

While she searched for a stick, she found herself wondering just what was going on. Eros was supposed to be the god of love, but he had taken two people who were not in a relationship with their rescuers. One could argue brotherly love for Trunks and Goten but Kenta was her boyfriend. Not Kaiba. So why was Kaiba the one completing the trials? Did Eros want an employer-employee, not in love, love? Or was there something else going on?

She wasn't surprise to see Kenta wasn't there though. Despite the speech she had given to Kaiba about how it was special when she got to see Kenta, her feelings for him had died a long time ago. One of her friends who was working in the same city as Kenta had warned her about his wandering eye earlier in the year. Her original plan was to question him during Christmas but then she had been dragged to the Kaiba house. A few days later a video had come from the same friend showing Kenta hitting on some blonde. She was drunk but he obviously wasn't. Since then, she had been waiting to tell him it was over. Dumping him on Valentine's might have seemed a bit cruel but she knew he was ready to do the same to her. However, that still didn't explain Kaiba.

There were no more sticks to be found so she turned back to where the men were hanging. Yusuke was turning red again and Goten was trying his best to calm him down. Unfortunately, Yusuke refused to listen. "How can you be so calm when who knows what is happening to them!"

Goten sighed. "Well Trunks is Trunks and he's used to these sorts of things. When we were kids we got in and out of life threatening situations all the time. Takahashi's boyfriend managed to keep his brains when he came up against the sirens so he probably has enough brains to survive. And if your girlfriend has survived through a mob of insect-controlled freaks, she'll survive anything."

Feeling like her will to fight had vanished with the sticks, Takahashi sighed as she sat down at the base of a pillar. "I would like to add Kaiba is not my boyfriend, and Keiko must have some form of self-defence or amour-piercing punch since she had to deal with you."

Yusuke glared at her. "Just because she can take me down doesn't mean she can protect herself!"

"Aren't you the highest level of demon?"

"That doesn't mean anything when you're battling a god!"

Unable to say anything, Takahashi and Goten fell silent. While Yusuke pulled at the chains, Takahashi looked at the sky. There was no sun to speak of but the whole area seemed bright. It was frustrating to be stuck somewhere and have to rely on someone else to save you. The waiting was enough to drive you mad. However, they had no choice and nothing else to do except hope and pray that the situation was just a dream brought on by something they had eaten.

Off in the distance a bird was chirping. Takahashi closed her eyes. As annoyed as she was, the temple was almost peaceful. The wind was moving around the forest behind her, whistling in the leaves. How long had they been in Eros' realm? Ten hours? Eleven hours? It can't have been more than twelve. Her body started to relax as she felt some of the temple's peacefulness sink into her. It was strange. Moments ago, she had wanted nothing more than to leave. Now she was almost happy just to sit and rest.

Yusuke and Goten were talking in the background but their voices were slowly fading. She hadn't slept well last night. The thought of how she would tell Kenta it was over had kept her up. Then she had worried about whether or not she would be able to leave work. The ball wasn't working anymore so they had no idea when their friends were coming. She might as well take a little nap.

Minutes passed and she could no longer hear Yusuke and Goten arguing. Her mind drifted through memories and thoughts. She was slowly reliving the moment when one of her classmates had decided that a panty tank was a fun idea. Then suddenly, she felt someone grab her shoulders and shake her. Her eyes opened and she slapped whoever was touching her. She regretted it instantly when she saw blue eyes glaring at her while the person covered the slap mark on his face with his hand.

"Kaiba," she gasped. "Sorry. I mean I didn't mean to."

He stood up, still glaring at her but not as harshly had he had been when she first slapped him. "Come on. Mokuba probably is wondering where I've gotten to."

She nodded as she stood up beside him and took notice of the people around her. Everyone had survived and everyone was going home. She couldn't help but smile. If it hadn't been Kaiba, she might have remained at the temple forever. It was nice having a boss that cared.

Kaiba had noticed her smiling because he frowned. "I just don't like interviewing people, alright?"

She pretended to be surprised. "So does that mean I'm not fired?"

He shook his head. "You didn't really leave on your own." He paused before saying, "By the way, your boyfriend called."

She shook her head. "He said that he's cheating on me didn't he?"

Kaiba nodded.

"It's okay," she said. "I already knew. By the way," she suddenly gave him a peck on the cheek, "thanks for saving me."

He turned his head away as he made his way towards the door. "I didn't save you for the sake of saving you. I only did it because I don't like interviewing people."

Takahashi grinned. "Sure. But I'm taking tomorrow off."

She watched as he opened his mouth to say no but at the last second he paused. He shut his mouth before nodding. "Fine but you have to be back in the next day half an hour early."

She smiled again and followed him through the door and back to the office she had been taken from. Nothing had changed and she was just fine with that. Although the next time someone had to be kidnapped she was voting for Kaiba. After all, when he disappeared it was a write off for a day. When she disappeared she had nearly been written off.

**Reunion with a Brother **

**A**lthough he had heard Poseidon say that they had better hurry from Eros' realm before the magic put them all into a deep sleep that would kill them, Goten wasn't in a big hurry to leave. Back home his mother and Bulma were probably having heart attacks about their missing boys and the sooner they returned the sooner their mothers would kill them. Not that Trunks didn't already look like he was dying. He looked like he had just avoided death and crashed into torture. However, his grin was the same even if most of his bones looked like they had been rearranged.

"Almost twenty minutes wasn't it?" Trunks asked. "Can't have been more than thirty minutes that I left you alone in the office with a pretty girl and you got yourself into trouble." He shook his head. "I can't leave you anywhere, now can I?"

Goten laughed lightly. "I guess not. Although I wouldn't have gotten into trouble if you hadn't gotten kidnapped that first time."

"I guess you're right," Trunks said with a laugh. "So what did you do while I battled for my life?"

"Hanged around after Eros royally kicked mine and Yusuke's butt. Speaking of which," Goten punched his friend. "That's for fighting a demon without me."

Trunks grinned. "How about you battle the creepy things that don't die while I get to sit at a temple with a hot girl next time?"

"Alright. I can live with that."

"Good." Trunks then pointed over towards where Poseidon was standing by door made out of wood. "What do you say that we head home? Our moms probably have had at least two heart attacks each by now."

Goten nodded. "Sounds good but how about we call before we head home. I'd like to live to see forty."

Trunks nodded as the two walked towards the door. "The first thing I'm doing when I get home is eat for a week."

Goten nodded. "I know the first thing I'm getting when I get home."

Trunks frowned. "A lecture from your date for standing her up?"

Goten shook his head. "No. A hair cut."

The two boys laughed as they paused at the door. Trunks nodded to Poseidon and then the two were through the door and ready to face their doom… at a payphone as far away from West City and Distinct 439 as possible. After all, Goten thought, being captured by Eros might have been scary but it was nothing compared to the wrath of a mother. That was something he and Eros could agree on.

**Reunion with a Lover **

"**Y**ou're okay!" Keiko shouted as she held him in a hug and Yusuke couldn't help but grin. He had been so worried about her but it appeared that he had nothing to worry about. Humans, demons, crazy gods, Keiko was able to take it all. He, however, was a bit sore from the chains and her hug had pulled on some of those stiff muscles.

He quickly hugged her and said, "Geez Keiko. I'm okay. Just a bit stiff." He then noticed the blood on her clothes. "What about you?"

Her only reply was to grin and hug him tighter. "I'm okay. Now."

Somehow he knew he had missed something very important while the sphere had blacked out. The only time Keiko ever hugged him so tight was when it looked like he was going die. He started to ask her what had happened but she kissed him and Yusuke started to think that maybe the trials weren't such a bad thing after all. However, next year Keiko was going to sit at the temple and wait while he introduced the Greek world to his fists. After all, if it was the same team again, he and Goten could have all those monsters dead in seconds and Takahashi… well she could do something else. For now though, Yusuke was going to keep an eye on Keiko and maybe teach her some fighting positions. She had gotten lucky too many times before but he wasn't going to let her luck run out. Even if it meant taking down a few gods and getting kidnapped. Although he would rather not get kidnapped again. In any case, it was over and it was never going to happen again… He hoped.

**A/N: So the redo is over. The endings here aren't quite prefect yet but I can't think of any other way to do them so this is the result. I hope you all enjoyed the Trials of Eros. Thanks for reading!**

**-D101**


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